People’s Use of the Word 'Irony'

The English language is an arsenal of weapons. If you are going to brandish them without checking to see whether or not they are loaded, you must expect to have them explode in your face from time to time.

—Stephen Fry, The Liar, 1994

“What’s ironic is that...” “How ironic it is…”

The word ‘irony’ is used to death in social circles. It is the new cliché that’s not recognised for being one, and easily joins the ranks of ‘basically’ and ‘I mean’. I say the use of the word is clichéd, rather than the word itself. The word has a good, sound meaning. People’s overuse of the word, by overloading it with meanings it doesn’t have, is the problem.

Let me set my case in motion. I typed “it is ironic that” into Google. Let’s go through the top 4 unique results. Note as we go how much you can tell about people based on how they use the word "ironic." In fact, I think people could learn a lot from themselves by whether and how they use clichés in general, except for the unfortunate situation that "cliché people" seem also to be amongst the most opinionated people in the world who are incapable of listening to advice.

• 1. Nicole’s Blog: June 2005[1]

  “One might think that Neil Gaiman is clinically insane [...] He writes the way humans see. [...] It is a ironic [sic] that I should like his writings so much. As a rule (as in an absolute code like a marine would follow) I do NOT read anything that may cause my heightend [sic] imagination to work at full power; especially when it contains freaky material. And freaky is what Neil does best.”

  No Nicole, it isn't ironic. It's just you doing something without understanding fully why you're doing it, and then dressing this uncertainty and resulting mild embarrassment up as "irony" to make it sound better.

• 2. Romans Chapter 6[2]

  "It is a ironic [sic] that in order for us to become free from the bondage of sin we must voluntarily become the slave of Christ."

  No it isn't, it's simply an unfortunate circumstance. (Good point, though. Although I'm sure that "voluntary slave" is an oxymoron. "Unquestioning follower" might be a better phrase, even if such a person would be just as idiotic as a voluntary slave.)

• 3. euphoria.jarkolicious.com[3]

  “I am glad that persons independent and outside of my unit have taken the time to research and reach out for the truth. “The truth shall set you free.” It is a ironic [sic] that Heidi and Kit set out in an honest attempt to expose a fraudlent [sic] claim that turned on the accusers”

  No, not ironic, just unfortunate for Heidi and Kit.

• 4. Medrek Discussion Forum entry[4]

  “Frankly, it is a ironic [sic] that the war was sold as an aggression of Ethiopian sovereignty when it is nothing more than a long-standing family feud”

  No it isn't, because irony is unintended and I'm sure dressing up the war as a family feud was simply intentional propaganda rather than innocence and/or ignorance.

What is ironic is that the only people who claim in some form that they know what irony means always seem to show the opposite. I’m just hoping it isn't the case that I, too, have got the wrong idea about what ironic means. In which case, ironic this (except that, if I don't know properly what ironic means, then this isn't ironic, meaning that it is. I'll leave you to work that out).

Finally, I can’t resist giving you another Fry quote, cf. the first paragraph:

“It is a cliché that most clichés are true, but then like most clichés, that cliché is untrue.”

- Steven Fry, Moab is My Washpot, 1997

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Addendum

A certain Steve has pointed out that the "a ironic" typo 'coincidence' in the above quotes might be the consequence of my mistake when I typed the query into Google. I think this very likely. My points still stand, though.

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[1] Nicole. (Jun 2005) “Nicole's Blog: June 2005”, http://iapet.us/nicole/archive/2005_06_01_archive.shtml

[2] Scott, G. “Bible Studies In The Christian Library: Romans Chapter 6”,an Library: Romans Chapter 6”, http://www.christianlibrary.org/authors/Grady_Scott/romans6.htm

[3] euphoria.jarkolicious.com, “euphoricreality.net - Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit Of Those Who Threaten It. http://euphoria.jarkolicious.com/journal/2005/07/28/667/

[4] Unknown, “WHY TIGRAY ALONE?” on Medrek Discussion Forum, www.ethioindex.com/medrek/viewtopic.php?p=15551