own goal

IPA/ˌəʊn ˈɡəʊl/
IPA/ˌəʊn ˈɡəʊl/

own goal — noun

1. in football and similar games, a goal accidentally put into your own net, which

1.nounB2
Definition

in football and similar games, a goal accidentally put into your own net, which is then counted for the other side.

Example

Haruto kicked the ball past his own keeper and scored an embarrassing own goal.

collocation: score an own goal

The defender's clumsy header turned into an own goal in the final minute.

subject is a deflected touch, not a shot

Common collocations
  • score an own goal
  • deflect into one's own net
  • concede an own goal

Grammar Patterns

score an own goal

Usage Note

Almost always counted by the team that benefits, not the player who made the error. The verb is usually 'score' (an own goal), even though the player did not mean to.

Common Mistakes

He made an own goal.
He scored an own goal.
English uses 'score' for own goals, the same verb as for normal goals.

2. an action meant to help you that ends up hurting your own side and helping the p

2.nounC1
Definition

an action meant to help you that ends up hurting your own side and helping the people you were against.

Example

Cutting the training budget was an own goal, because skilled staff soon left for rivals.

be + an own goal for a self-harming choice

Omar's angry email to the whole office was a complete own goal for his promotion hopes.

collocation: a complete own goal

Common collocations
  • a complete own goal
  • a spectacular own goal
  • score an own goal
  • prove an own goal
Synonyms
  • backfire

    a verb for the same idea; 'the plan backfired' vs 'the plan was an own goal'

  • self-inflicted wound

    more dramatic, often used in politics and journalism

Grammar Patterns

be an own goal

score an own goal

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: this figurative sense needs no sport at all, and the harm falls on the doer's own interests rather than a literal scoreboard. Often paired with adjectives like 'spectacular', 'complete', or 'costly'.

Common Mistakes

The new tax was an own goal to the poor.
The new tax was an own goal for the government.
the harm must fall on the doer's own side, not on others.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/2

All four describe an action that ends up harming the person who did it. 'Own goal' is a noun borrowed from football, common in British English and journalism, and stresses that you handed the advantage to the other side: 'Closing the only factory was an own goal.' 'Backfire' is a verb and the most neutral choice — any plan can backfire, with no blame implied: 'The surprise party backfired when she found out early.' 'Boomerang' is more vivid and slightly informal, suggesting the harm comes straight back at you: 'His lie boomeranged badly.' 'Self-inflicted wound' is the most dramatic and is favoured in politics, framing the damage as serious and clearly your own fault: 'The leak was a self-inflicted wound for the campaign.'

own goal ↗backfire ↗boomerang ↗self-inflicted wound

Etymology

English

The phrase comes straight from football, where an 'own goal' is a goal a player accidentally puts into the net they are defending, giving the point to the opposing team. By the late twentieth century the term had spread into everyday and political speech for any move that hurts the very side it was meant to help.