Citations:self-own

Noun: "(Internet slang) a situation in which someone unintentionally embarrasses or undermines themselves"

 * 2018, "Air con", Oklahoma Gazette, 28 February 2018, page 11:
 * "Unfortunately, ... we've had some incidents on travel dating back to when I first started serving in the March-April timeframe," [Scott] Pruitt told the Union Leader, which is hilarious because up to that point Pruitt never willingly spoke with a union leader. "We live in a very toxic environment politically, particularly around issues of the environment."
 * Besides that final quote being the grand champion of self-owns, publication of the interview led to more information about Pruitt's first-class habit.
 * 2019, Jeffrey C. Billman, "(Un)reality television", Detroit Metro Times, 29 May 2019 - 4 June 2019, page 12:
 * It continued on Thursday: Democrats suck, they want a do-over, Rex Tillerson is “dumb as a rock” and was “totally ill prepared and ill equipped to be Secretary of State” when Trump nominated him — kind of a self-own, no? — he was very calm yesterday, etc.
 * 2021, "Here's What Other Newspapers Are Saying", Hometown Oneonta (Oneonta, NY), 25 February 2021, page A4:
 * Hiding from the public information that might not be flattering to an administration is a textbook "self-own" by public officials such as [Andrew] Cuomo, who should know better.
 * 2021, Bob Covey, "Local Vocal", The Jasper Local (Jasper, AB), 1 February 2021, page A2:
 * And while it's easy enough for progressives to tally up the self-owns and figure that in a couple of years the UCP will be booted out like so many eliminated contestants on The Bachelorette, many Albertans who traditionally poll conservative aren't necessarily going to flock to the Official Opposition, unless Rachel Notley and the NDP have a tenable platform.
 * 2022, "Portlandiaky Word Game", The Portland Anchor (Portland, Louisvile, KY), January 2022, page 9:
 * It doesn't take a culture-savvy person to know that a tv series exists called Portlandia. This comedy series is a never-ending liberal self-own, featuring weed-drenched dialogue and tire-sandal-scuffing dirtbags. Maybe you haven't noticed but our very own Portland is a never-ending conservative self-own, featuring weed-drenched dialogue and boot-scuffing dirtbags.
 * 2022, Steve Schneider, "On (small) Screens in Orlando", Orlando Weekly, 15 June 2022 - 21 June 2022, page 27:
 * The writer, executive producer and star of Hulu's Fire Island takes to the stand-up stage to extol the joys of threesomes, share masturbation tips and ponder what it means to be Asian. Apparently, it's a lot more interesting than being Caucasian (Follow me for more self-owns.)
 * 2022, Violet Austerlitz, letter to the editor, Little Village, April 2022, page 15-16:
 * Although—I will admit, I'm really enjoying what a self-own some of your logic is. You're like, "oh no we can't let trans girls compete against cis girls because we believe that trans girls are actually boys and everybody knows boys are athletically and intellectually superior to girls in every way and so we must protect our dumb weak daughters from being embarrassed."
 * Although—I will admit, I'm really enjoying what a self-own some of your logic is. You're like, "oh no we can't let trans girls compete against cis girls because we believe that trans girls are actually boys and everybody knows boys are athletically and intellectually superior to girls in every way and so we must protect our dumb weak daughters from being embarrassed."