English Language Learners Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for speakers of other languages learning English. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I came across this sentence: "People often think they need to find that one thing they're passionate about, but that framework is a trap in itself." (source)
I'm wondering why it's not "a trap itself," but "a trap in itself." Could anybody tell me what it means and how I use it in the future.
Lexico gives a definition of "in itself":
Viewed in its essential qualities...
So this means that the essential properties of the framework (of seeking the thing you are passionate about) is a trap. Presumably he means that you will become trapped in the search, and not enjoy what you already have. It is a stoical point of view.
Lexico gives the example (slightly simplified here):
Bringing up a family is a full-time job in itself’
The phrase "in itself" adds very little to the meaning of the sentence. It suggests that "bringing up a family" is a full-time job, and it can't be made less than a full-time job.
