If you love language you’ll put the Online Etymology Dictionary in your Favorites. Start with:http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=p&p=13

Then try "petard" and see where "hoisted by one’s own petard" originated. Give you a hint: the guy who(probably) used it first wrote some plays. Another hint: My father once scoffed at this guy’s work, saying, "He just strings together a bunch of quotes we’ve heard before."

My father had a dry wit.