Irony may be hard to describe, but it is not uber complicated. By being such an abstract concept irony is subjective. It is more of a feeling - irony is when circumstances trick your brain - they defy what you know. If you know nothing, nothing is ironic. Not everyone will see a particular thing as being ironic - it depends on what knowledge and experience they bring to the table.
I realize the defination looks a bit daunting, but irony is something for which you probably already know, but have not labeled.
i-ron-y - (n) - 1 : a pretense of ignorance and of willingness to learn from another assumed in order to make the other's false conceptions conspicuous by adroit questioning -- called also Socratic irony
2 a : the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning b : a usually humorous or sardonic literary style or form characterized by irony c : an ironic expression or utterance
3 a (1) : incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result (2) : an event or result marked by such incongruity b : incongruity between a situation developed in a drama and the accompanying words or actions that is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play -- called also dramatic irony, tragic irony (Merrium Webster)
Irony Links
- Irony @ Wikipedia
- A deep examination of Irony - types, uses, analysis.
Irony - The New Critical Idiom
Irony (The New Critical Idiom)
Amazon Price: $21.95 (as of 08/08/2008)
Support Firefighters
It should not need explanation why this picture is funny - it just is. A firetruck is the last place one would expect a fire! Since the point of a firetruck is to put out fire, a firetruck on fire is flat out ironic. Irony Items
Movie Quotes on Irony
Lelaina: I mean, can you define irony?
Troy: Its when the actual meaning is the complete opposite from the literal meaning.
Lelaina: My God, where were you when I needed you today?
The Simpsons (1989)
Lisa: I think it's ironic that dad saved the day while a slimmer man would've fallen to his death.
Bart: Yeah, and I think it's ironic that dad's butt actually prevented the release of toxic gas.
Con Air (1997)
["Sweet Home Alabama" plays in background]
Garland Greene: Define irony: a bunch of idiots dancing around on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash.
Southpark (1997)
Newscaster Ned: If irony was made of strawberries, we'd all be drinking a lot of smoothies right now.
Roxanne (1987)
Roxanne Kowalski: Nobody had a coat?
C.D. Bales: I thought you said you didn't want a coat...
Roxanne Kowalski: Why would I not want a coat?
C.D. Bales: You said you didn't want a coat!
Roxanne Kowalski: I was being ironic.
C.D. Bales: Oh, ho, ho, irony! Oh, no, no, we don't get that here. See, uh, people ski topless here while smoking dope, so irony's not really a, a high priority. We haven't had any irony here since about, uh, '83, when I was the only practitioner of it. And I stopped because I was tired of being stared at.
Starsky & Hutch (2004)
Starsky: Wrong answer, Big Earl.
Bartender: Big Earl? I'm not Big Earl, I'm Jeff.
Hutch: Yeah, sure, no-one's who they say they are.
Bartender: Seriously. Think about it, I'm not even big.
Hutch: Yeah, he's got a point.
Starsky: Maybe it's one of those ironic names like Tiny over in vice. He's like eight feet tall and everyone calls him Tiny.
Hutch: Except this guy's kind of normal size, he'd have to be a lot smaller for a name like Big Earl to be ironic.
Starsky: You don't have to be a midget, how tall are you?
Bartender: I don't know, 5'9"?
Starsky: Well that is kind of?
Hutch: It's borderline, it's average.
Irony's Edge
Irony's Edge: The Theory and Politics of Irony
Amazon Price: (as of 08/08/2008)
No, Alanis, it is unfortunate.
Just a few misuses of the word 'ironic' in the song:
...It's a black fly in your Chardonnay
...It's like rain on your wedding day
...It's a free ride when you've already paid
...A traffic jam when you're already late
...It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife
In The News
- Mavericks guard Jason Kidd is here to help re-establish Team USA ...
- The irony is he has been labeled a team killer in past incarnations and had been written off by a few as TBO, too bleeping old, after flailing post-trade ...
- Iraqis Too Are Hurting At The Gas Pumps
- In a sense of sheer irony, as Iraq has one of the largest oil reserves in the world, many Iraqi drivers deal with stress of having to fill up their gas ...
- Brown takes centre stage in ironic tale of tragedy
- It is one ripe with irony and Shakespearean tragedy. It's about a man who sacrificed the best part of his life for high political office only to reach the ...
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