self-irony
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self-irony
The ability to mock oneself, one's own weaknesses, and mistakes in a humorous and detached way.
Mit einer gesunden Portion Selbstironie meisterte er die peinliche Situation.
With a healthy dose of self-irony, he mastered the embarrassing situation.
The word is made up of 'Selbst-' (self-) and 'Ironie' (irony). The prefix 'Selbst-' means that something refers to one's own person, so literally 'irony about oneself.'
Sein Humor ist geprägt von einer großen Portion Selbstironie.
His humor is shaped by a large dose of self-irony.
'Selbstironie' (self-irony) is often combined with verbs that express possessing or showing a quality. Common verbs are 'haben' (to have), 'besitzen' (to possess), 'zeigen' (to show), or 'beweisen' (to prove).
Er hat bewiesen, dass er viel Selbstironie besitzt.
He proved that he has a lot of self-irony.
Because self-irony is seen as a quality that one can have more or less of, it is often combined with quantity expressions such as 'eine Prise' (a pinch), 'eine Portion' (a dose/portion), or 'ein Mangel an' (a lack of).
Eine Prise Selbstironie hätte ihm in dieser Situation gutgetan.
A pinch of self-irony would have done him good in this situation.
self-criticism
'die Selbstkritik' and 'die Selbstironie' both have to do with how you look at your own mistakes or weaknesses. 'Selbstkritik' is serious and means examining your own behavior and recognizing weaknesses. 'Selbstironie' is more humorous: you can laugh at yourself and do not take yourself too seriously. Learners may confuse the words because both have to do with looking at oneself. When it is about improvement and honest evaluation, 'Selbstkritik' fits. When it is about humor regarding your own mistakes, 'Selbstironie' fits.
Mit viel Selbstironie erzählte Anna, wie sie beim Vortrag den roten Faden verloren hatte.
With a lot of self-irony, Anna described how she had lost the thread during the presentation.
Nach dem Projekt zeigte das Team viel Selbstkritik und sprach offen über Fehler.
After the project, the team showed a lot of self-criticism and spoke openly about mistakes.