• TwistyLex@discuss.tchncs.de
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    17 hours ago

    “The use of words expressing something other than their literal intention. Now that is irony!” - Bender Bending Rodriguez

  • Vincent@feddit.nl
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    23
    ·
    edit-2
    21 hours ago

    Irony is e.g. writing a song about irony, and then filling it with events that aren’t ironic.

      • weastie@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        16 hours ago

        I feel like you can easily find counterexamples that aren’t ironic, so this argument doesn’t make sense.

        “It’s like rain on your wedding day” - This is not irony. Weddings are planned months, sometimes years in advance. There wouldn’t be an expectation that it couldn’t rain on your wedding day, that’s an understood possibility.

        Because it’s an understood possibility that it can rain on your wedding day, it’s not ironic if it does happen, it’s just unfortunate.

        An example that would be ironic, is if you are planning a hiking trip and you specifically go on Saturday because the weather forecasted it to be sunny, but it ended up raining anyway. That’s ironic because expectation does not meet reality.

        • thebestaquaman@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          8 hours ago

          I think the second example also falls under “unfortunate”, I would call it ironic if you had planned the trip for Sunday, but moved it to Saturday because of the weather forecast, then it ended up being rainy on Saturday and sunny on Sunday. Although specifically where I’m from I would still put that chain of events within the range of “likely to happen” (unpredictable weather is a bitch).

  • Christian@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    edit-2
    24 hours ago

    Now that I think about it, I’ve also spent my whole life with a very vague idea and ultimately only pretending to know what that word means.

    • hakunawazo@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      13
      ·
      edit-2
      23 hours ago

      Examples of metaphysical irony:
      (objective irony)

      (irony of fate - mostly tragedies)

      Example of verbal irony:

    • tamal3@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      13
      ·
      23 hours ago

      I think it’s helpful to know that there are several different types of irony, and that might be why people are confused. It’s always used for drama or humor.

      Dramatic irony is what happens in a story when the audience knows more than a character. Think horror movies! It can also be used in a humorous way.

      Situational irony is when the opposite of what’s expected happens, for humorous or dramatic effect. For example, the hero’s been holding on to an ancient sword for years and finally pulls it out to use it only to realize it’s broken.

      Verbal irony is when someone says one thing but means another, again for humorous or dramatic effect. Sarcasm is an example, satire is another. We use verbal irony all the time.

  • Optional@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 day ago

    clear communication is rife with failure. But it is the only true and consistent way.