'self-parody' originates from the combination of 'self' and 'parody', where 'parody' comes from the Greek word 'parōidia', meaning 'a song sung alongside'.

'parōidia' transformed into the Latin word 'parodia', and eventually became the modern English word 'parody', which combined with 'self' to form 'self-parody'.

Initially, 'parody' meant 'a humorous imitation', and 'self-parody' evolved to specifically mean imitating one's own work humorously.