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What's the word for equivalent to self own?
The word you're looking for
An action that accidentally harms your own interests or position. The term comes from football/soccer but is now used in everyday English to describe damaging yourself through your own mistake.
Other words that fit
Use when a plan or action produces the opposite result and harms the person who started it—more general than own-goal.
Use when something returns to harm the person who created it; emphasizes the idea of something coming back on you.
Use this classical phrase when you want to sound formal or literary; it means harmed by your own strategy, but less common in modern speech.
Why this word
An own-goal is when someone harms themselves through their own actions, usually by accident. The word started in football—scoring against your own team—but now describes any mistake that damages your position. In British English especially, it's a common, everyday term. Don't confuse it with "backfire," which is broader and focuses on plans going wrong. Own-goal is more specific: a single action that rebounds on you. The phrase "hoist by one's own petard" means the same thing but sounds old-fashioned and is rarely used in casual conversation.
In context
- His attack on her credibility was an own-goal—it only made him look dishonest.
- That strict new rule became an own-goal when staff morale dropped.
- Revealing his plan early proved to be a costly own-goal in the negotiation.
Other concepts to find a word for
Frequently asked questions
- Is 'own-goal' only used in sports?
- No. It started in football but is now a common everyday term used in business, politics, and personal situations to mean any self-damaging action.
- What's the difference between 'own-goal' and 'backfire'?
- Own-goal is more specific—a single action that harms you. Backfire is broader—any plan or idea that goes wrong and hurts you instead.
- Can I use 'own-goal' in formal writing?
- Yes, it's acceptable in formal contexts too, especially in business and political writing. It's not slang, just originally from sports.
- Is 'own-goal' British or American English?
- It's more common in British English, but it's understood and used worldwide in both varieties of English.