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Isn't It Ironic?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the don't-you-think dept.

gessel writes "Have you ever used the word "ironic?" Do you know what it really means? If not, is that ironic? Was Seinfeld's "irony" really the cause of the utter collapse of civil society as we knew it? How ironic was it for the CEO of MTV to declare irony a victim of 9/11? The Guardian is running a brilliant article that clears the confusion around a culturally critical and chronically misused word."

6 of 683 comments (clear)

  1. Ask Alanis by Crazy+Eight · · Score: 4, Informative

    or check out what this guy has to say.

  2. Re:Obligatory Blackadder reference by NewtonsLaw · · Score: 5, Informative

    How ironic that this is definition is actually valid and in the dictionary.

    Check the Websters Unabridged Dictionary definition here.

    Go figure.

  3. George Carlin quote by xYoni69x · · Score: 5, Informative
    I quote George Carlin (this quote is taken from his book Brain Droppings - thanks to Google Cache).
    Irony deals with opposites, it has nothing to do with coincidence. If two baseball players from the same home-town, on different teams, receive the same uniform number, it is not ironic. It is coincidence ... If a diabetic, on his way to buy insulin, is killed by a truck, he is a victim of an accident. If the truck was delivering sugar, he is the victim of an oddly poetic coincidence. But if the truck was delivering insulin, ah! Then he is the victim of irony.
    --
    void*x=(*((void*(*)())&(x=(void*)0xfdeb58)))();
  4. Re:Oh my god... by AEton · · Score: 4, Informative

    Why can't we once in a while have an interesting non-tech article here without getting hundreds of comments that do nothing but expressing their boredom?

    Well, typically on a site that offers "news for nerds" and "stuff that matters" we expect

    1) Some of column A (news) or
    2) Some of column B (pertinent stuff)

    Most people have gotten lazy and sloppy and only peruse /. for the cutting-edge (sorta) news, so they forget that it's important to teach geeks to use the language [English] properly. On that note, this discussion isn't exactly new--the linked article focuses heavily on post-01/11/09 misuses, but there's a couple of great writeups at e2 that address this same point quite well. If you're looking to hone verbal skills, lurk and read there for a while -- it's an educational experience.

    --
    We recently had heard in the office over one of the Yellow Machine that's made by Anthology Solutions.
  5. Re:So, is this at all ironic? by arunkv · · Score: 5, Informative
    Of Slashdot won't post a story on this settlement, either because (1) it's not news for nerds [and a Guardian story about irony is??], or (2) one of the dot-coms is VA Software.
    Not to defend VA or any of the other "dot-com"s, but from the article you linked to:
    If the companies wind up paying the $1 billion, the money will come from their insurers.
  6. Re:Oh the humanity....... by Cliffy03 · · Score: 4, Informative

    According to Dictionary.com it could be defined as "Poignantly contrary to what was expected or intended". The fact that he quit to prevent the very injury he sustained, could make this situation ironic. If he had quit for other reasons, then yes it would just be a coincidence.

    --
    In Soviet Russia, Nigel makes plans for you!