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Ironing Out My Irony: Defined By Being Misdefined

Toaraga

Entry posted by Toaraga

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The life of the ironic: so unpredictable yet not unexpected; I have a love-hate relationship with the word "irony."

 

I love when it happens, except that it happens to me so often; I'm the type of person who could climb a ladder quickly, run across a tight rope safely, and fall off the bottom rung on the opposite side. I like to think of myself as an accident-prone Jackie Chan: I could do insane stunts well, only to stub my toe when walking away.

 

Anyway, one thing that gets is the constant misuse of the word. Yes, I know it can be tricky to define and/or use properly, but it kind of irks me when I hear/read blatant misuses, so now I present to you...

 

A Quick Guide To Irony (Although It Might Get Kind Of Lengthy)

 

Irony (definition): "The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning."

 

In average person's term, it means that what is expected to happen and what really happens are total opposites. Suppose someone says, "This is the last place that I would expect to run into you; it's ironic." Perhaps that's coincidental or something else, but that is not necessarily ironic.

 

Examples of irony:

While watching a comedian's routine, he sits in a chair, but he's still doing "stand-up" comedy.

If an ambulance runs over someone, that's sad but still ironic.

A teacher learns something from the student.

You use a computer, so you can read a book.

You have to go online, so you can learn how to use the computer.

"Drive on the parkway; park on the driveway." Irony, right there.

Flammable and inflammable mean the same thing.

Palindrome is not defined by its definition: a palindrome is a word that is the same forward and backward.

The fact that I actually added my own blog to my RSS Reader... now that might be ironic (or stupid, I'm not quite sure).

 

Okay, so those are just a few examples of irony; I don't know why, but it just annoys me that I hear so many people misuse the word. In so doing, they actually help define the word. Go figure...

 

Sigh -_-

 

©1984-2006 Toaraga EAM

 

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xccj

Ah, irony at its finest. Nice examples... I laughed at a few. (Not the ambulance one, but the palindrone one...

 

:music:

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Tahatu Taluka

I know what you mean. Someone in class today said that the square of 8 is 16, and I heard 'Irony!'. But Field Day was cancelled today because of rain, and we only got it past 4:00. Irony there. And people said it was stupid. More Irony.

 

//Tahatu\\

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ToM Dracone

A guide on irony ... it would be totally ironic if someone misused the subject word in commenting on it.

 

My hopes that some more people read this: "irony" is misused way too often.

 

And on the subject of misused words, how about "decimate"? Or at least the original and literal meaning thereof, being to destroy one tenth of the direct object... Unless one's force has less than ten people, in which case I'm not going to think about how decimation applies. :blink:

 

On an irrelevant note, do you know Latin by any chance?

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Toaraga
I know what you mean. Someone in class today said that the square of 8 is 16, and I heard 'Irony!'. But Field Day was cancelled today because of rain, and we only got it past 4:00. Irony there. And people said it was stupid. More Irony.
Sixteen is the double of eight actually: sixty-four is eight squared. I'm not really sure I understand your Field Day example: it could be ironic, but I'm not quite sure what you're saying. :unsure:

 

And on the subject of misused words, how about "decimate"? Or at least the original and literal meaning thereof, being to destroy one tenth of the direct object... Unless one's force has less than ten people, in which case I'm not going to think about how decimation applies. :blink:

 

On an irrelevant note, do you know Latin by any chance?

Remember, the nuclear family has 2.5 children, so I guess it is possible to decimate someone. :P

 

Yes, there are a lot of words that are misused and overused... at the same time; it's so sad. But that's another blog for another day.

 

As for Latin, I don't really know anything; I might know a few words, phrases, etc. (like most known languages) ^_^

 

©1984-2006 Toaraga EAM

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Noda Miki
Okay, so those are just a few examples of irony; I don't know why, but it just annoys me that I hear so many people misuse the word. In so doing, they actually help define the word. Go figure...

Now that's irony.

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