The irony tag has no wiki summary.
-1
votes
1answer
82 views
Does this sentence use ironic quotation marks correctly?
Women ‘sold, resold’ in name of tradition
Selling is the real part, no? I find no irony or double meaning there.
2
votes
1answer
96 views
Etymology of “Utopia”; counterintuitive
How did the word "Utopia" (coined by Sir Thomas More) come to mean an ideal place when the Greek etymology specifically means "Not a place."
Relatedly, while this might be the prime use of the word ...
1
vote
1answer
93 views
Is this situation ironic or coincidental? [duplicate]
I'm under the impression irony is when the opposite of what you expect happens. Someone dies giving a safety presentation, for example. Coincidental, on the other hand, is when merely something ...
3
votes
3answers
99 views
Is the use of the word “irony” correct in this paragraph?
I recently came across a Facebook post, about a city in India known as Patiala. I was arguing with the admin, about the correct usage of the word irony. Is the word correctly used in the following ...
0
votes
1answer
84 views
What is the word for statements that aren't ironic but have an interesting juxtaposition?
For example: my grandmother went to university and learnt to speak RP; I went to university and picked up her cockney drawl.
Or: I was searching for a book on the internet and when I found it, it ...
2
votes
2answers
297 views
Example of Irony
Recently I had a test in college that asks us to give an example of irony.
I wrote this word by word:
An astronaut had over 200 missions into space over two decades. Ironically, two days after he ...
3
votes
3answers
142 views
Is this Irony/Idiomatic speech? [closed]
I was reading this blog post and had trouble understanding this comment on the piece:
Or you could appropriate the Freudian hermeneutic: "Sometimes a vessel
is just a vessel."
I understand ...
1
vote
3answers
126 views
Is 'irony' the correct word to describe a character's delusionary observations?
In the following passage, would it be correct to say that the bolded sentence uses irony?
She walks past one of the farm workers (is his name John?), a robust,
small- headed man wearing a ...
1
vote
2answers
550 views
What does the sentence “say hello to karma” mean?
It's a part of a Dilbert's strip you can find
here:
I understand every word. But not the joke as a whole. Can you explain the irony?
0
votes
1answer
159 views
Curious about the type of humour employed by Twitter's @AntiJokeCat? [closed]
Despite my general disregard for Twitter and its adherents, I very much enjoy AntiJokeCat's brand of humour. His/her gags are funny because they seem to subvert the notion of what a joke is and ...
6
votes
5answers
1k views
What exactly is “verbal irony”
My daughter has been given the task - by me - of explaining irony. She identified and did a jolly good job of explaining 5 of the 6 apparent types of irony: dramatic, cosmic, socratic, situational, ...
3
votes
2answers
653 views
When did ironic use of “as in” start?
As far as I (as non-native speaker) understand the words as in, this is short for for instance, as in:
Understanding “that” as in this statement
It's my impression that at some point in time ...
4
votes
3answers
277 views
Is this an example of irony?
It's ironical that Linux, the most secure OS, is commonly used to hack other machines.
Is that sentence correct, with respect to the irony part?
2
votes
2answers
245 views
Is there a better / correct term for the de facto usage of ‘ironic’?
The word ‘ironic’ is known to be quite frequently misused, to the point that some dictionaries have actually started accepting the de facto usage as another definition, usually calling it situational ...
9
votes
4answers
7k views
What does the word “rich” mean in the reactionary sarcastic phrase “That's rich!”?
What does the word "rich" mean in the reactionary sarcastic phrase "That's rich!" (Google shows 67M hits).
I take it to mean "rich" as in "rich in irony". What it is the source of the phrase and how ...
