Ironic Expression

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An Ironic Expression is a humorous expression whose superficial meaning differs significantly from its intended meaning.

  • Context:
  • Example(s):
    • That movie was great. Not!
    • I started out with nothing & still have most of it left.
    • I pretend to work. They pretend to pay me.
    • Sarcasm is just one more service we offer.
    • Errors have been made. Others will be blamed.
    • Well, this day was a total waste of makeup.
    • I thought I wanted a career, turns out I just wanted paychecks.
    • Chaos, panic, & disorder - my work here is done.
    • Never trust a dog to watch your food.
    • You're just jealous because the voices are talking to me.
    • ... we approached the ticket window. The lady behind it informed me that the price for the elder two was such-and-such and the little’un was free. 'What if I pay you a bit extra and you keep them?' I suggested. The kids snortled and started naming prices that might clear the market. ...
    • ...
  • Counter-Example(s):
  • See: Paraprosdokian, Pun, Dissimulation, Rhetorical Device, Simile, Context-Dependent Word, Comedic Work.


References

2018

  • (Wikipedia, 2018) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony Retrieved:2018-7-21.
    • Irony ([1] ), in its broadest sense, is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or event in which what appears, on the surface, to be the case, differs radically from what is actually the case. Irony can be categorized into different types, including: verbal irony, dramatic irony, and situational irony. Verbal, dramatic, and situational irony are often used for emphasis in the assertion of a truth. The ironic form of simile, used in sarcasm, and some forms of litotes can emphasize one's meaning by the deliberate use of language which states the opposite of the truth, denies the contrary of the truth, or drastically and obviously understates a factual connection. [2] Other forms, as identified by historian Connop Thirlwall, include dialectic and practical irony.[3]
  1. Liddell & Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, v. sub .
  2. Muecke, DC., The Compass of Irony, Routledge, 1969. p. 80
  3. Preminger, A. & Brogan, T. V. F. Brogan, The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, MJF Books, 1993, ISBN 9780691032719, pp. 633–635.

2016a

2016b

  • (1843 Magazine, 2016) ⇒ http://www.1843magazine.com/people/the-daily/being-german-is-no-laughing-matter
    • QUOTE: But we deliberately spoke German, to help us acclimatise to our new home. In a mood of levity, we approached the ticket window. The lady behind it informed me that the price for the elder two was such-and-such and the little’un was free. “What if I pay you a bit extra and you keep them?” I suggested. The kids snortled and started naming prices that might clear the market. The lady stared back, horrified. Then, slowly, she leaned forward to look at my children, who stiffened. “Your dad does not really mean that,” she said. “He does not really want to sell you.” …

      … That’s not to say that Germans live in a world that’s devoid of comedy or laughter; but it is a world that’s empty, almost, of irony, overstatement and understatement. … Instead of a raised eyebrow, we get full-body signals to laugh now. Punchlines don’t twist meaning ironically so much as invert it: in short, they rely on sarcasm – the lowest form of humour. …

      … The steady drip of micro-miscommunications produces a feeling of loneliness. Not connecting is always painful. Not connecting in the way that ironists do, as a means of coping with a depressing world, is more so.

2016c

2015

2004

2003

1986

  • Lewis Hyde. (1986). “Alcohol and Poetry: John Berryman and the Booze Talking."