Recently I was walking and talking with my co-worker, who happens to be a freelance writer and aspiring journalist. We were talking about the fact that our employers were providing us with a Thanksgiving lunch the day after Thanksgiving, and she said, “It’s so ironic!’’ – all emphasis and drawing-out of syllables possible used on the last word.
This is a smart girl I’m talking about. She’s a college graduate and has done her fair share of writing and reporting. And even so, she doesn’t know the definition of irony.
Irony definitions
Merriam-Webster defines irony as:
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) : incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result; 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
Here is Google’s definition for irony:
the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
A simple way of putting it is that irony usually signals a difference between the appearance of things and reality. For instance, here is how Wikipedia defines it:
Ironic statements (verbal irony) often convey a meaning exactly opposite from their literal meaning. In ironic situations (situational irony), actions often have an effect exactly opposite from what is intended.
Irony examples
Confusion is such that there is even a website, IsItIronic.com, where you can post your own question about whether or not something is ironic. Readers will cast their own vote – you can see the percentages of the votes – and the website will provide the final yes or no verdict.
Here are some examples of irony (or the lack of):
Is it ironic that I posted a video about how boring and useless Facebook is on Facebook?
Reader’s Verdict: 93% NOT IRONIC; 7% IRONIC. Final Verdict: NOT IRONIC.
Is it ironic that the name of Britain’s biggest dog (until it died recently) was Tiny?
Reader’s Verdict: 75% IRONIC; 25% NOT IRONIC. Final Verdict: IRONIC.
Is it ironic that I can’t go to church because I have a theology test to study for?
Reader’s Verdict: 95% NOT IRONIC; 5% IRONIC. Final Verdict: NOT IRONIC.
Is it ironic that someone steps into a puddle and you make fun of them… and the next thing you know – YOU step in one!?
Reader’s Verdict: 94% IRONIC; 6% NOT IRONIC. Final Verdict: IRONIC.
Has Alanis Morissette spoiled irony for us forever? Perhaps my generation is just in recovery from her 1995 lyrics. What do you think – do you understand the meaning of irony? Do people around you?
Video Recap
Irony versus Sarcasm
Sarcasm is when your words mean one thing when taken literally – but, in fact, you mean the opposite. It’s normally used when you’re annoyed about something.
For instance:
- “Oh, great!” – when there’s a huge line at the coffee shop
- “That’s just perfect” – when the printer jams yet again.
- “Lovely weather today” – when it’s pouring with rain.
Some people would describe these as forms of verbal irony (because they say the opposite to the intended meaning) – but it’s important to recognize that they’re not examples of an ironic situation. It isn’t “ironic” that there’s a line at the coffee shop … just unfortunate.
Sarcasm also normally involves mocking or even attacking someone – or at least expressing irritation. Irony tends to come into play more often in literary ways, to make people laugh, or to heighten the drama of a situation.
Irony versus Unfortunate
While a situation that’s ironic often is unfortunate, these words definitely aren’t synonyms. An ironic situation is one where an attempt to cause a desired outcome actually results in an undesired outcome, or one where something happens that’s opposite to what you’d expect.
For instance:
- If you’re late for work because you lost your keys yet again, that’s unfortunate. (But not ironic.)
- If you’re late for work because, in an attempt to be on time, you put your keys somewhere safe and then forgot where they were, that’s ironic. (And also unfortunate.)
- If the printer jams at work when you’re in a big rush, that’s unfortunate. (But not ironic – unless your rushing caused the jam.)
- If the printer jams at work and you discover it’s because of the “fix” that your colleague performed to stop it from jamming, that’s ironic. (And unfortunate.)
- If your friend calls round to see you with an important package, but you’re out for the first time that week, that’s unfortunate. (But not ironic.)
- If your friend calls round to see you, but you’re out because you’re driving to their house to retrieve your package, that’s ironic.
Irony versus Paradox
A paradox occurs when something can’t logically work: it contradicts itself.
For instance, the statement “I am lying right now” is a paradox – either the speaker is lying (and so the statement is true … meaning they’re not lying) or they aren’t lying (but they can’t be telling the truth, either…)
Another example is the “grandfather paradox” in time travel – if you go back and kill your grandfather, you’ll never have existed … but then no-one would have killed your grandfather, so you must have existed … and so on.
Ironic situations aren’t paradoxes. They’re perfectly possible – though they might be unlikely.
Irony Quiz
For each sentence, decide whether the situation being described is ironic or not.
I’d like to thank you Jake Wheeler. I think that is the most concise and clear explanation I’ve seen.
I don’t necessarily know what irony is, but I know what it isn’t.
I don’t think any of the examples in the article (Facebook, dog named Tiny, missing church or stepping in a puddle) are irony. The diabetic/truck/insulin isn’t irony, it just a horrible (or funny) coincidence. Several people above have already stated that coincidence is too often confused with irony.
@Jake
It’s true: it IS ironic when your labors give birth to the very outcome you were seeking to avoid. But that doesn’t negate other occurrences of irony.
Reminds me of a friend of mine who categorically dismisses puns as “the lowest form of comedy,” and then smiles in spite of himself when he hears a good one…
Irony abounds… how much of it is noteworthy, however, is a matter of taste… and fine minds…
Thanks Keith and Hambone for responding. Yup. My birthday is in early April. Three times in my life, my birthday will have fallen on Easter. If I were an atheist, that wouldn’t be ironic. Some people like to intone: there ARE no coincidences. Uh, yes there are. Some things just happen at the same time. That’s why there’s time and space.
I like to refer to puns as punish humor, which, in the world of irony and puns, makes it one thing, but not the other.
In simple terms the “irony” may be called a situation or condition in what have tried to explain and just opposite meaning was being understood .
plz do tell if u agree or disagree ..:)
I think part of the problem is that people have different perceptions as to the extent of the difference between appearance and reality (using Guest Author’s simplified definition). For example–I can see taking the position that “I can’t go to church because I have a theology exam to study for” isn’t ironic–because there is no appearance clearly contraposed to the reality. But if the sentence were “I chose to study for my theology exam rather than go to church,” I think there clearly is a difference between the appearance (I am a devout person who values religious practice) and the reality (I am willing to forego religious practice in the pursuit of good grades in my religious studies program). So I have a problem with putting the question up for popular vote.
Is it ironic, given the public at large don’t understand irony, that IsItIronic.com leave the decision to a public vote!
Hm. What’s ironic is an article attempting to definitively answer the question “What is ironic?” by implicitly asserting (via the isitironic.com website example) that irony is determined by democratic vote, not by the actual meaning of the concept ‘irony’.
I.e. presuming to be an authority and then proceeding to demonstrate a lack of understanding.
Compounding the irony is the fact that the poll results in the examples provided from that website (which I will now never visit) seem to demonstrate pretty conclusively that democratic vote, in fact, has little to do with determining whether a statement is ironic.
Thirdly, the fact that this page was one of the top Google results when I typed in ‘define irony’, is another layer. Actually wait…now it’s starting to get self-reflexive. Maybe this page does demonstrate irony. Unintentionally ironically.
Isn’t it ironic that I read the post, all the comments and explanation with the purpose of understanding what an “Irony” is, but instead, got more confused?
To Garrison – Hamlet’s father is dead, it is Polonius hiding behind the curtain whom he slays thinking him to be his uncle (who marries Hamlet’s mother).
For a good example of comic irony, allow me to quote from an episode of Frasier in which Niles is asked by his father,Martin, if he would still be willing to put him up for a few months.
Martin: “well, the question is really do you still want me Niles?”
Niles: “oh Dad, I want you as much now as I did back then”
It is clear to us, the audience, that Niles hates the idea of living with his father, while his father is content with his son’s reply.
This is a good example of being ironically witty.
How “ironic” Guest Author promised, “with examples” early. Indeed it was promised in the first sentence of this critique. How ironic I thoroughly read this entire diatribe with expectations of learning from the subject matter expert, yet learning nothing. Confused disappointed, there was no substantive teaching or judgement linked with each example. I wondered why. Perhaps I am feeling a bit paranoid–left hanging like a participle. Or was Guest Author simply demonstrating “sarcasm”? Nay, me thinks it “sadistic.”
From Keith:
it IS ironic when your labors give birth to the very outcome you were seeking to avoid. But that doesn’t negate other occurrences of irony.
I agree, but aside from the first, there simply doesn’t seem to be any authority or agreement as to what those other occurrences are. My inclination, then, is to stick to the first and leave it at that. The “other occurrences” must be something else, and otherwise irony evidently has no meaning at all apart from “hmm…making”. The sum of all this discussion seems to be that there is no agreed upon, or authoritative definition of what is ironic. Maybe this is a price English pays for being too “democratic” and lacking a decisionmaking body. Pitty, really, because it seems like a potentially valuable concept that is simply too amorphous to be realized. Is any of that ironic? Sure, why not.
pity, of course.
I don’t have a problem with the definitions even though I guess there is much disagreement on the examples…
What I want to know is what term SHOULD be used for those situations where exactly the least appropriate thing has been done. The Facebook video is a perfect example. I don’t think irony is correct. But IS there a word that does describe this? If not, let’s invent one!
Interestingly, although I do not believe the Facebook example showcases irony, if I was to do this and say, “the irony is not lost on me,” I have used that expression exactly correctly, as this is the correct use of a phrase which happens to misuse the word, “irony.”
This is much like how people criticize use of “literally.” I say those doing the criticizing are wrong. If I was to say “I would literally die of embarrassment,” it is true that I would only figuratively die. However “literally,” is not JUST a word, it is also an expression that means, “figuratively.” So it is being used correctly as an expression, although misused as a word. Confusing, yes, but still true.
I disagree on the last. Literally and figuratively are antonyms, not synonyms. Literally does not mean figuratively, but quite–literally– the opposite. It is used that way by some. But when so done is incorrect, hence the point of correcting it, which some other posts on here do. Where did you get the notion that literally means figuratively? Just curious, I’m sure there is some “peoples'” dctionary that says that. Along with regardless and irregardless being synonyms. and nukylar being an alternative pronunciation of nuclear, etc.
I think the irony of “Ironic” by Alanis Morissette is that none of the situations are ironic. Most people just take the song at face value. This “pretense of ignorance” sort of qualifies it for Socratic irony if that was the true intention.
I hate to be the one to bring it back to this off-topic topic, but I find it hard to take someone’s comments seriously when they don’t know the difference between a gender “roll” and a gender “role”. I mean, really?! Did no one else notice this blunder? I realize that I am digging up an ancient conversation from the near genesis of this topic but this is too juicy for me to let go. If you wish to make a point about semantics, Lawrence Miller, at least (for the love of all that is holy, in the literary world at least) use your words properly. All that I could think about while reading your treatise were jelly donuts and fruit roll-ups and although this was fun for me, I am guessing NOT the effect you were intending. Now is that, or is that not irony?
There is a lot of repetition here and far too many people meta-commenting on how Ironic it is that ‘poster-x’ said this or that an article on irony further confuses the concept of irony.
If you’ve only skimmed to the bottom, I suggest you go back and read the posts from Mike and Venqax and also Greg’s about the irony of IsItIronic.com .
Some common misconceptions that I think have caused a lot of the confusion here:
Irony is funny
– While that is often the case, it is in many cases only a by-product. Only with sarcasm and stand-up comedy is the humor really intended.
Irony is the opposite of what is expected
– it’s a good start but there is the element of intention missing. At some point, the subject has to intend one outcome and experience the opposite – not just expect it.
— same for ‘tragic’ as for ‘funny’. It doesn’t have to be tragic or funny to make it ironic, though many ironic instances are either funny or tragic.
— a question asked by a few here begs for words to cover those things that have been deemed NOT ironic. In most cases, they are coincidence.
Thank you everyone for this string of posts. I googlecame here looking for not necessarily a definition of irony, but some examples.
Ones that work for me concisely:
Olympic swimmer drowns. (Caroline)
Somebody stole my safe. (Venqax)
Poetic justice is where the bad guy gets theirs in a way that chimes with their crimes. If a professional assassin is assassinated that’s poetic justice. If he accidentally shoots himself in the face, that’s irony.
Sarcasm involves opposite meanings, “nice shirt!” when confronted with someone wearing horrible shirt. It would be ironic if the person who said this was wearing a horrible shirt. Pot/kettle scenarios are pretty much always ironic.
Our Facebook poster, had he posted his video on how useless Facebook was, on Facebook, and had then enjoyed huge success because of it, would have been perfectly ironic.
I agree with many above about Ed Byrne’s Alanis Morisette take. It’s brilliant, and when I saw it at the comedy store in London, a heckler told him “It’s a metaphor!”. And he was able to respond “Not really, if anything it’s a simile”.
to: thebluebird11 – You don’t know what misnomer means either.
to: Kathryn – No, I don’t call an 18 year old male a boy. But I don’t call him a man either. I, and every socially adequate person, using the common vernacular, calls him a “guy”. The equivalent would be to call a female a “gal”, but that hasn’t caught on.
It is both weird and unhealthy to call 18 year olds men and women. They are not. New studies have come out this week showing that the mind is not fully formed until 24.
“Girl” is not used to be insulting or condescending, it is just where the mutability of language has left us at the present time.
If calling young ladies “women” helps you seduce them easier and makes you feel less guilty in the morning then that’s your hang up, baby doll.
P.s. Where do your crunchy Birkenstocks stand on the African-American, Asian-American, White conundrum? –
Black? Yellow? European-American?
Sorry to be slightly off-topic (and a bit rude), but I’m a bit annoyed that my comments were so badly misinterpreted.
@Venqax… I don’t think you read my post very carefully. I am well aware that as WORDS literally and figuratively are (nearly) antonyms. And in fact that is the end of the story for figuratively. But literally is both a word which means “exactly” and an expression which means “figuratively” but with added exaggeration.
Are you also going to say that “it’s raining cats and dogs,” is WRONG? That expression has a meaning OTHER than those portrayed by (unfortunately given the topic) the literal words.
(continued…)
I did clearly say it was being misused as a word. (But used correctly as an expression.)
Can I describe the Facebook example as “apropos?”
Apropos essentially means “appropriate” and while it is “appropriate,” it is so in a ridiculous way. Can I call it “apropos” ironically? Can I call it “apropos” sarcastically? Can I call it “apropos” legitimately? It seems to be almost paradoxically appropriate.
What are the opinions?
@J _ First of all, to your rebuttal of Venqax’s response to your description of ‘literal’. Essentially, Venqax is still right. There is no way that ‘literal’ and ‘figurative’ should mean the same thing. When literal is used by the current slingers of slang, they are mostly misunderstanding it rather than playing with meaning. Much in the way Alanis misunderstood ‘ironic’. We would go on to say that because people misuse the word ‘ironic’ it now has two meaning and such is the case for ‘literally’.
There is nothing wrong with saying ‘it is raining cats and dogs’, no: it is a figurative expression and a well-known and widely-accepted one. It would however be wrong to say ‘it is literally raining cats and dogs’, as that is a misuse of the word ‘literally’.
Now, onto ‘apropos’. Going by the sub-questions you post, I’m not quite sure what you’re looking for. The only way the ‘Facebook’ example would be an ‘apropos example’ really, is if we were having this discussion on a FaceBook chat/wall/whatever you do on FaceBook.
I’m not sure that answers your question as I’m a little confused as to exactly what you’re question is; it does however give you the accurate usage, so I hope it helps.
Error in my previous comment: “we would NOT go on to say…”
Also, to those commenters saying that the sign, “the procrastinators meeting has been postponed”, is not ironic:
In the interpretation that many have made, it would not be ironic – we would expect procrastinators to postpone their meeting. Were we to see the sign, we might chuckle but more because it is so expected than anything else.
However, if this meeting were organised by some organisation to help procrastinators stop procrastinating, and then that organisation (I’m thinking something like ‘Procrastinators Anonymous’) were cancelled, it would indeed be ironic.
@J – also, apropos of apropos (the original meaning there), it is originally and more commonly used to mean ‘in reference to’, expressed as ‘apropos of’. This is the earliest borrowing of the word from it’s French meaning.
The reason most Alanis Morisette’s examples in her song aren’t true examples of irony are because they are just unfortunate coincidences. It’s not ironic that you get rain on your wedding day, that’s just an unhappy accident. Neither are getting 10,000 spoons when you need a fork. They are not related to the difference between appearance and reality. Someone telling a quiet person that they should quiet down is an example of irony. But sarcasm isn’t always irony!
One of my teachers in junior high gave me the best way to explain irony that I have ever heard in my entire life. I use this question to determine irony and it has never failed me.
“Irony is when something seems like it should be one way, but it is actually another”
If you’re ever unsure if something is ironic or not, just apply this rule and you’ll know.
Someone above described irony this way;
1. The truth is different than what is perceived.
2. The outcome is different than what is expected.
Also, the poster immediately above described it in this manner…
“Irony is when something seems like it should be one way, but it is actually another”
So, when Alanis’ old man won the lottery and then died the next day, it is ironic to me because we understand in retrospect the lack of happiness and contentment that the winnings should provide, but do not. Perhaps the situation would be more ironic if the excitment of winning actually killed him.
What about the black fly in your chardonnay? Would it be ironic if you enjoyed the drink, but never noticed the fly until afterward; the perception that something ingested was pure, ruined by a pollutant after the fact of enjoyment?
A death row pardon two minutes too late? The perception is that the pardon will save an innocent person. The outcome is certainly different than what was expected, but not really the opposite. So, to be ironic, maybe the call from the governor should actually cause the death? Two minutes early the phone rings “Riiiiiiiiinnng…” and a jumpy executioner hits the switch!
Maybe anything could be ironic if you give it the right back story? I rarely use the word though. I usually say something like “Well isn’t that unfortunate” or I’ll just repeat with wide eyes whatever anyone says that may deserve the word. HA!
Thank you all for an interesting way to kill an hour!
Irony is, – Of the members of ZZ Top, the guy named “Frank Beard” is the only one without a beard.
Example 4 is coincidental, not Ironic.
The dogs name is the owner’s attempt to be ironic in a tongue-in-cheek manner.
NOT ironic, as names are given in this way regularly for comedic value.
Two perfect examples of irony…
Irony: Sam Kinnison had a bit about how he and the patrons of the bar where he was entertaining were all drinking and getting drunk and were all going to drive home drunk and if anyone didn’t like it they could f**k off.” Kinnison was later killed by a drunk driver.
Irony: That the guy riding his motorcycle without a helmet to protest helmet laws was killed in an accident he would have likely survived had he been wearing a helmet.
I feel, the day after Thanksgiving is the opposite day of Thanksgiving and it becomes an ironic statement , does it not? I assume, she did completely convey her thoughts. She may of meant, one day is Thanksgiving and the day after is not and opposite of when we give thanks by the majority. I too am confused…..hmm. Actually , my skills have the own issues. Why am I even commenting ?
I have trouble sorting out what things are irony, and I figure that since language evolves with the society, dictionary definitions have evolved to include a broader meaning of “Irony” to include a statement with opposite/coincidental situations that are humorous. It most likely stems from difficulty of the masses to interpret the original usage, as well as a lack of distinction between “Irony,” “Satire,” Sarcasm,” Paradoxical,” and other such terms.
Perhaps more knowledgeable people could help us masses by creating Irony from non-ironic statements, such as taking the first statement “I posted a video about how boring and useless Facebook is on Facebook” and adding something like “and I’m Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook.” to make it ironic.
I got bored reading all of the posts so i scrolled down.
The best example of irony I have heard is this:
A man has a fear of flying so he decides to drive to
Wherever he needs to be then a plane crashes into his car.
There are fine examples of irony in many posts here. The one I like most was from jim white’s post on September 21, 2011: in an attempt to write an intellegent example of irony, he described a hunter killing a jaguar in Africa, while apparently unaware that there are no jaguars in Africa, they are a species found in the Americas (i.e. using the incorrect definition of something to try to correctly define something ese).
The irony was compounded in subsequent posts where others modified the original story to try to make even better examples.
Is this ironic:
In an attempt to appear mentally superior to a group of people by pointing out the irony of one of their comments and their obliviousness in seeing the irony the woman’s example of irony was not ironic. The irony is that her attempt to appear superior by using irony and failing only demonstrated her lack of understanding of irony thus proving she was not mentally superior despite her attempt to prove the opposite?
Is this irony? lol?? It’s really bugging me!!
I always confined my definition of ironic to be something that would be the last thing you would expect to happen, but if we can’t argue with m-w, then let’s just go by that. Sarcasm is not equal to irony. Unexpected outcomes that do not have a poetically significant meaning cannot be irony. Richard Simmons growing obese and dying of a massive heart attack only two years after writing the book, “Never Grow Obese, or You’ll Die of a Massive Heart Attack; Be Like Me,” would be ironic. Not having a spoon while having a great bowl of soup placed before you would not be ironic unless you carried a spoon with you everyday except for that one. And yes, Alanis unwittingly smashed herself over the head with dramatic irony while trying to sing about standard irony. Perhaps there should be a committee.
wwfan – best explanation, thank you. I understand now that it depends entirely on the observer and prior knowledge of context or a standard belief.
Before reading these comments and definitions, I believed that sarcasm was separate from irony, but I think I understand now that it is a subset and very closely tied to dramatic irony. Ironic speech or act, with intent from the speaker or actor, places it in the subset of sarcasm and drama.
I do disagree slightly with wwfan on one point. Not all sarcasm is intended to wound. Sarcasm can be playful if there is shared knowledge between the speaker and audience. Some may disagree with me on this point, but I think sarcasm includes inside jokes, dry wit, and statements made with a “nod and a wink” that serve to make only part of the audience powerful and aware.
My new understanding applied to the example of Tiny the dog… if the owner knew at the time of naming Tiny it either already was or would likely grow up to be a massive dog, then “Tiny” is (playfully) sarcastic, and therefor also ironic. As part of the audience, I assumed the owner knew about Tiny’s large size and intended to create an ironic name. If Tiny were a runt that unexpectedly grew into a massive dog, then the name choice was simply ironic.
Ok, I must admit i’m with the minority on most of the examples! Firstly, if I posted a useful video on how useless facebook was, on facebook…ironic! If a large dog was called tiny it would not be ironic….maybe comical? However, if he was called lucky, then tragically died a day after naming him, then it would be ironic!
It’s also not ironic if someone steps into a puddle straight after laughing at someone else doing it. It’s sods law, typical and probably what you deserve, but not ironic!
Of course it’s ironic that someone wouldn’t be able to go to church as they had to study for an exam about religion! Omg people, do you really not understand irony at all????
Maybe Alanis Morrisette HAS ruinned it for us! After all, ‘rain on your wedding day’ is NOT ironic! Just bad bloody luck:-) xx
For me, irony is made fairly clear by the Futurama episode “The Devil’s Hands are Idle Playthings”, at least in the regard of using a word to mean something other than what is expected.
The short summary:
Fry wants to become a master of the Holophonor, without lessons, so he makes a deal with the Robot Devil to switch hands with some random robot in the universe, which the Devil states Fry probably won’t know. There is a giant wheel that gets spinned, and it almost lands on Bender (Fry’s friend), but lands on the Robot Devil himself (so the Robot Devil now has Fry’s hands). The Robot Devil exclaims “What an appallingly ironic outcome!” and Bender counters with “It’s not ironic, it’s just coincidental.”
Later on, Bender, wondering what it would be like to be more annoying, makes a deal with the Devil to have his crotch-plate removed in exchange for a face-mounted stadium air horn (the Robot Devil originally wanted to exchange for Bender’s hands, which Bender replied “Grabby and Squeezy? No way!”). He uses the air horn on the first person he bumps into, Leela, who is on her way to listen to Fry’s Holophonor Opera, and deafens her. The Devil again points out the the irony of the situation, and Bender counters again with “It’s not ironic, it’s just mean!”.
Later still, during the Opera’s intermission, Leela decides to make a deal with the Devil in order to gain her hearing back. He asks for her hands. She can’t hear what he is proposing, and says no. Then he says just one hand, pointing to her left hand. She agrees, and after getting the ears, she asks if the Robot Devil is going to take her hand, and he says “in good time”.
Toward the end of the Opera, the Robot Devil interrupts and gives Fry an ultimatum that they swap hands, or he will take what he wants from Leela, her hand. Leela then sings a bit and ends with “I agreed that I’d give him my hand…” and the Devil chimes in with “in marriage”. At which point Bender sings “Now that IS irony!”.
I think a lot of people confuse coincidental comeuppance with irony.
These are good examples coincidental comeuppance but not of irony :
Isn’t it ironic that the man who killed a jaguar in Africa (sic) was later killed by a guy driving a Jaguar?
Isn’t it ironic that the guy that laughed at someone who accidentally stepped in a large puddle got splashed by a car shortly thereafter?
A decent example of irony:
A large dog named Tiny.
The dog was very likely named with humorous intent to describe it as the opposite of what it was.
A better example of irony:
The owner named the dog Tiny after commenting about how it was the “runt” of the litter; Tiny later set a record for growing to such a large size.
@ cam
Your take on sarcasm is interesting. However, I don’t think you are capturing sarcasm but describing “irony in action” quite perfectly.
Irony in action certainly includes ‘jokes, dry wit, and statements made with a “nod and a wink” that serve to make only part of the audience powerful and aware.’ I might even borrow that, if I may, as it sums it up so fantastically. That is not sarcasm though.
When you are being sarcastic, you want your target to know you think he’s an idiot. He’s supposed to be able to deconstruct the irony in the sarcasm so he sees what a fool he is. In The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon almost completely undermines these sarcastic attacks by being so pleased he’s recognised the sarcasm that the attack loses its bite. However, in general, by being sarcastic, you are risking retribution as the attack on the self is, once deconstructed, explicit.
When being ironic, you want the target to either not get the attack (if the threat of retribution is huge), or, in getting it, accept his foolishness and realise the new proposition informing the stance from which you are mounting your attack is better (if the irony is constructive), or recognise the foolishness of his position and not carry on following it (if the irony is destructive, i.e you have no alternate belief, but just see the absurdity of his). If you are using a sarcastic attack, neither is likely to happen, as the target will be so upset he is more than likely going to harden his belief to protect his concept of self.
The close relationship between sarcasm and irony was Socrates’ great problem. His ironic method was intended to challenge the “objective truths” preached by the “wise men” of Athens, to illustrate that they were subjective and could be challenged from a variety of perspectives. He intended to illustrate how every proposition needs to be ironically challenged to ensure the action following the concept is just. However, his method resulted in upsetting the powerful Athenians so much (they were made to feel like idiots), they put him on trial and executed him. This is an example of how irony, in attempting to educate, actually wounds, which risks great retribution. However, the sarcasm is not intended, only perceived.
The death of Socrates was partly down to the seductiveness of the ironic method, which resulted in young Athenians ironically challenging the great and good of the city, which impacted upon its civil life and could not be tolerated (one element of Socrates’ trial relates to his “corrupting the youth of Athens”). This is a second problem of irony. Once you start employing it, it seduces you, as you can use its tricks and techniques to make every proposition look absurd to your own great personal enjoyment. You lose connection with any value system, as you cannot judge which proposition has more value, because you can make them all absurd. You end up collapsing into nihilistic despair. This problem is detailed extensively by Vico and Kierkegaard.
Your commentary on naming the dog Tiny is also very interesting. Is the owner being deliberately ironic (calling a dog Tiny when you know it will be huge), or is the name inadvertently ironic (you thought the dog would be small so named him literally, then felt stupid as it grew to a massive size). It is all about the audience. In the former, you are your own audience, with people who tell you it is a stupid name the ironic targets. In the latter, you are the victim of dramatic irony, with the audience knowing your once little Great Dane puppy was going to be a big dog. This scenario is relatively unlikely, as it would take an almost complete lack of knowledge about dogs to fail to estimate a future size, but is possible.
I had got about halfway through this thread and hit JennyOH’s post dated July 5, 2011 1:27 pm and I really, to put in what believe to be ‘text speak’, LMFAO, it was perfect, thank you Jenny. It was just after quite an intense discussion of language use during the Greek/Roman empire, so was most welcome, it read:
“If a man is hit by a truck and dies, it’s a tragedy.
If a diabetic man is hit by a truck carrying sugar and dies, it’s a darkly humorous coincidence.
If a diabetic man is hit by a truck carrying insulin and dies, it’s ironic [i.e. insulin should save this man’s life but was in reality the cause of his death].”
I tend to think that crashing your car in the first momentsof your journey because you’re distracted by the act of fiddling around, putting your seatbelt on is quite a good example of irony, anyone, no?
or, i once heard an example that made me laugh, a town planner, i late to a meeting to discuss the success of the traffic system he had designed, as he was ‘stuck in traffic’.
Perfect examples of irony are found in writings by O. Henry, specifically “Ransom of Red Chief” and “Gift of the Magi”.
In the former, kidnappers looking for a ransom take a boy who is more than they can handle and end up paying the family to take him back. In the latter, a married couple each sell their most prized possession in order to buy a special Christmas gift that goes with the other’s prized possession. I teach irony with these examples and they are great stories as well.
Another nice example;
Online Games (MMOs) are ironic. Because, even though they’ve people and money involved, they’re not considered important; as their purpose: “entertainment” (in this case) has no real importance to the society they live in, that sees this as a waste of time – that could be better invested into something more useful to themselves (e.g: anything else that actually provides benefit to your own self, not your virtual one).
The worst case I could imagine, is someone doing exercises with his in-game character, while he (himself) is needing it – but is too lazy to do so.
PS: Hope I’ve written this in a “understandable way,” as I had to use a translator…
Obs: Gamers may be offended by this post.
Wow. I thought I knew what ironic meant. I came online to double check if my situation was ironic and found this post and am now confused. Here’s what happened:
This morning my daughters’ school called to let me know that we had a delayed opening, allowing us to sleep in two hours later than usual. However, they called two hours EARLIER than we normally wake up for school and woke us up.
Please tell me that is irony. If it’s not then I don’t know what irony is. 🙁
I accidently came across this website wanting to know the meaning
or a example of the word “irony”.
would this be a example of the word irony?
what if the girl replied ” It’s early this year” in the example about
the Thanksgiving lunch being served the day after?
I’m very glad there are a large number of people who do understand the meaning of irony.
With the Alanis Morisette song though I think maybe there’s more to it. No doubt the complete lack of irony in all situations described in the song annoyed a lot of people, however, the conveyance of completely non-ironic scenarios through a song named ‘ironic’ (which people assume the lyrics will be) is in-fact an ironic joke in itself