Irony

Last night I was cleaning up the boys' toys and I didn't see one of their giant trucks on the floor.  I kicked it just right and 3/4 of my toenail came off.  It hurt.  I didn't have Band-aids because I am in a new house and it was bleeding a lot, so Don's dad came over and bandaged it up for me.  I then drew a face on it.  I laughed for 10 minutes.  It looked like my toe was heading to a KKK meeting.  I get a kick out of the dumbest things.  Lindsey and the boys giggled too this morning when they saw it.

Anyway, I was thinking about how ironic it is that I made a mess by bleeding from the toe while cleaning up a mess.  It's like getting into a car accident while putting on your seatbelt.  Then I decided that I should blog about irony. 

Let's go over irony, shall we?  I love something ironic, but I really hate when it is misused. We can thank Alanis Morissette for this.  Her cluster of stupid coincidences misinformed an entire generation of English students. 


From NY Times:

Isn’t It Ironic? Probably Not

By BOB HARRIS

In “Reality Bites,” Winona Ryder, applying for a newspaper job, is stumped when asked to “define irony.” It’s a good question. Ryder replies, “Well, I can’t really define irony … but I know it when I see it.” Really?

Irony confuses. Let’s leave dramatic irony (you know, back when irony was tragic and the audience knew what was going to happen to Oedipus before he did) aside, as well as the debate over the supposed death of irony.  Instead, let’s talk about how we talk — and write.

Irony requires an opposing meaning between what’s said and what’s intended. Sounds simple, but it’s not. A paradox, something that seems contradictory but may be true, is not an irony. The Times stylebook, which, believe me, can be harsh, offers useful advice:

The loose “use of irony and ironically, to mean an incongruous turn of events, is trite. Not every coincidence, curiosity, oddity and paradox is an irony, even loosely. And where irony does exist, sophisticated writing counts on the reader to recognize it.”

Alanis Morissette’s song “Ironic” is equally useful. If it rains on your wedding day, that’s a coincidence, not an irony. If you win the lottery and drop dead before claiming the money, it’s good luck followed by bad luck. If you meet the man of your dreams and then meet his beautiful wife, it’s a bummer. But if a song called “Ironic” contains no irony, is that in itself ironic? Nope.
It may just be … dumb. It depends on the creator’s intent. So, as has been suggested, if Morissette purposely wrote a song called “Ironic” that contained no irony at all, is that ironic? We may be getting closer. Do you know irony when you see it?

What’s something you’ve read — other than a novel by Jane Austen — that’s ironic?


IRONY 101

Linguistic Irony: In language, either in spoken or written form in which the real meaning is concealed or contradicted by the literal meanings of the words (verbal irony) or in a situation in which there is an incongruity between what is expected and what occurs (dramatic irony). This is known as sarcasm.

Situational Irony: This type of irony may occur when the outcome of a certain situation is completely different than what was initially expected. It is often referred to as an “irony of events.”
(Like an Olympic swimmer winning the gold and then later drowning.)

Dramatic Irony: When an audience knows what is about to happen but the characters do not.  (Basically, think about all of the times you are screaming "RUN!" at the TV.  You know the character is about to be killed, but they don't.)



Origin of IRONY, from Encyclopedia Britannica:

The term irony has its roots in the Greek comic character Eiron, a clever underdog who by his wit repeatedly triumphs over the boastful character Alazon. The Socratic irony of the Platonic dialogues derives from this comic origin. Feigning ignorance and humility, Socrates goes about asking silly and obvious questions of all sorts of people on all sorts of subjects, only to expose their ignorance as more profound than his own. The nonliterary use of irony is usually considered sarcasm.

Just in case I wasn't clear, Ted explains irony in a useful video.

http://ed.ted.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&qs=irony


You know, I think Winona Ryder may have had it right when she said "I know it when I see it" because it's so damn confusing.  How do you feel?  Now I am wondering if it is ironic that my toe made a mess while I was cleaning, or whether or not it is truly ironic to die in a car accident while putting on your seatbelt....were these just examples of Zemblanity?  (The opposite of Serendipity.)  All this blog did was make me dumber.