Is there a name for this specific concept? Where somebody invents something (to do them good) but then that thing turns around and backfires on them?
I want it to be called a Midgley
There’s the phrase “Hoist by their own petard” but not sure if that’s specific enough to inventions, probably not.
I really hope there’s a single word for it out there… more convenient yanno.
There’s probably a long and complex German word for it :-)
There’s probably a German word for the concept that there is a German word for everything.
Hey!
German is not the only language to use compound words!
Swedish is another good example of a language with compound words.
The best compound word I can come up with is “Uppfinnarmissöde”
Uppfinnar - Inventor
missöde - misadventure or mishap
So “uppfinnarmissöde” would translate to either “inventor mishap” or “inventor misadventure”, I prefer the latter as it kinda rhymes when you say it.
Indeed - for OP’s purposes, I came up with this (but I don’t speak German, so it may make no sense at all): Erfindungselbstfehlzündung
Google seems to like it well enough!
Or better, Erfindungdererfinderselbstfehlzündung:
German words are all made up.
Germanwords are all made up:-)
The first one works, the second doesn’t. You cannot simply put any words together.
Well, not with that attitude… ;-)
Nah, fair enough - as I said, I can’t speak German, so was just mucking about trying to get something that might be plausible. Thanks for clarifying.
Not sure about a name, but:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_inventors_killed_by_their_own_invention
Weird seeing Stockton Rush on there when most of the other inventors are pre-20th century.
I call it “Pulling a Midgely”
Hubris. Irony.
I think Frankensteinian would work based off second definition of Frankenstein from m-w dot com.
2: a monstrous creation especially : a work or agency that ruins its originator
Frankensteinian is the adjective form.
This.
Frankensteinian
[joke]
Pulling a Doofenshmirtz?
Devention
If the inventor was known to be hubristic and reckless, it could be poetic justice. Otherwise, I think ironic is the best descriptor.
Btw, here’s a historical example of this happening.
Also not sure about a name, but in Greek mythology, there’s Daedalus. He built a massive maze, which was then used against him to imprison him & his son. Daedalus crafted wings out of feathers & beeswax to escape the island of Crete, but his son Icarus flew too close to the sun. Melting the wax, destroying the wings, and drowning in the sea.
To be fair, he gave adequate warning to Icarus. The fault with the wax wings doesn’t lie in the inventor or invention, but pure simple user error not following the directions.
A “Thomas Midgley Jr.”
Alfred Nobel might be considered a runner up, but I feel he recovered his reputation. That and I don’t think anyone but himself really was upset with the path his invention took.
I know you wanted a word, but I nominate “Midgley” to be the new word for that. “To midgley something” is to attempt to create something of value that instead only makes things worse. It’s an improvement in the negative direction.
Hmm…
I guess “outvention” works well, because… “out” is the opposite of “in”, which is in “invention”.
I don’t know of a single word. How about some phrases?
Choked on your dinner. Shoot yourself in the foot. Cut off your nose to spite your face. Dig your own grave. Sign your own death warrant.
Step on your own dick.
Ha. Lol.
