Other Crap

Irony | Cracked.com topics

Here's a rule of thumb that almost never fails. If you hear somebody criticize somebody else's use of the word "irony," the person doing the criticizing is almost always completely wrong. This is a case where people's everyday use is often correct, despite the carping of pseudo-intellectuals who don't bother to look the word up before doing their pretentious thing! Irony is a much broader term than people assume.

Here is what irony actually means (OED):

1. A figure of speech in which the intended meaning is the opposite of that expressed by the words used; usually taking the form of sarcasm or ridicule in which laudatory expressions are used to imply condemnation or contempt.
   
2. A condition of affairs or events of a character opposite to what was, or might naturally be, expected; a contradictory outcome of events as if in mockery of the promise and fitness of things.
   
3. In etymological sense: Dissimulation, pretence; esp. in reference to the dissimulation of ignorance practised by Socrates as a means of confuting an adversary (Socratic irony).
   
4. The incongruity created when the significance of a speech or action is apparent to the audience but unknown to the character concerned.
   

For some reason, pseudo-intellectuals seem to think that the meaning of the word ends with #1, and are especially incapable of recognizing #2 and #4, which are frequently used in everyday speech and which are often unjustly criticized. The author of this article makes the same mistake, for the usual reasons (mainly failure to simply look the word up in a dictionary). If a coke-head orders a rum and coke, that IS ironic (see #4). If a clown dies making people weep, that IS ironic (see #2). If you claim to have enjoyed Gilligan last night when you never watch TV, that actually IS ironic. None of those are particularly witty and none of them are worth noting, but they are all ironic, as are many other things not usually recognized as such (see #3. Oh, that Socrates!). Also, contrary to the article, something CAN be both appropriate and ironic if the subject does not understand the appropriateness while the audience does.

Indeed, given the nearly all-encompassing reach of definition four, almost everything in the world actually is ironic, depending on the perception of the audience. Not everyone recognized that it was ironic to give Kissinger the Nobel Peace Prize, and the presenters of that award did not intend it to be an ironic statement. But many people described it as ironic, and were not incorrect in doing so, based upon their perceptions as the audience (see #4).

You know what they call it when somebody improperly criticizes somebody else's use of the word "ironic"?

I dunno. If only there were a word for that!