[MD] Irony

[Steven Peterson]

On Sun, Jul 31, 2011 at 9:58 PM, Michael R. Brown <mrb at fuguewriter.com> wrote:
> Hi, Matt Kundert -
>
> I'll go with good old Wikipedia's first usage: Irony (from the Ancient Greek
> εἰρωνεία eirōneía, meaning dissimulation or feigned ignorance).
>
> As a traditional prescriptivist regarding the backbone of language, I don't
> go with the trendy second meaning.

Steve:
That sounds like "Socratic irony."

Consider also "dramatic irony" like when Mr Feeley would secretly
overhear Jack and Chrissy talking, but the audience knows that Mr
Feeley is taking their conversation to mean something quite different
than Jack and Chrissy intend.

And "situational irony" of the Alanis Morisette or Murphy's Law variety.

Or "verbal irony," like nick-naming a dumb guy "Doc" or a big guy "Tiny."

I even just invented a new kind called "post-modern irony" where
something sucks so bad that it is actually good. Sort of.