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What Is Irony? (With Examples)by Guest Author

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, Its so ironic! all emphasis and drawing-out of syllablespossible used on the last word.

This is a smart girl Im talking about. Shes a college graduate and has done her fair share of

writing and reporting. And even so, she doesnt know the definition of irony.

Merriam-Webster defines irony as:

1: a pretense of ignorance and of willingness to learn from another assumed in order to make the

others 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

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), act ions often have an effect exactly opposite from what is intended.

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?

Readers Verdict: 93% NOT IRONIC; 7% IRONIC. Final Verdict: NOT IRONIC.

http://www.isitironic.com/http://www.isitironic.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony

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Is it ironic that the name of Britains biggest dog (until it died recently) was Tiny?

Readers Verdict: 75% IRONIC; 25% NOT IRONIC. Final Verdict: IRONIC.

Is it ironic that I cant go to church because I have a theology test to study for?

Readers 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!?

Readers 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?