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Irony

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The irony is never lost on me.

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 definition 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)

by: Claire Colebrook

Amazon Price: $14.27 (as of 06/01/2012)

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

Ironic Pictures

Graffiti near Borough Market by dan taylor

Shannon being unintentionally ironic by 1031

curated content from Flickr

Movie Quotes on Irony

Reality Bites (1994)

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

by: Linda Hutcheon

Amazon Price: $38.58 (as of 06/01/2012)

No, Alanis, it is unfortunate.

In 1994, Alanis Morrisette put out a song "Isn't It Ironic" which (ironically) had very little irony in it. It is, in fact, a list of things that are unfortunate. Alanis said, in 2004, that she knows it isn't ironic, and that she has always known, but that it is just a song, so just get over it. Unfortunately, this song has interfered with the concept of irony to middle school students nationwide.

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

Nuclear Irony is Lost on West: By Jamal Kanj It is ironic that Western nations seeking to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions are the same countries that sold nuclear technology to it in the first place. Iran worked with the US and Western nations since the 1950s to develop its knowledge ...
EVIL TEENS: Irony, Prison Make-Up and Other Horrifying Truths about Teenage ...: MARGOT: (cute, rainbow-colored braces) We definitely do, which is pretty ironic all things considered. LUCAS: (Vans sneakers, hooded sweatshirt) I love the word irony. MARGOT: Because adults are the ones that are totally messed up.
You will find no irony here: There is verbal irony, situational irony and as mentioned with Shakespeare, dramatic irony. There is rarely irony in journalism. There are coincidences, conjunctions and a whole list of vocabulary words more appropriate than ironic.