Irony

Maelin wrote on 15 Jun 2004:
[nq:1]Exactly what is irony? I know it isn't what most people think it is, but I can't really understand what the dictionary says it is. Would a person being hit by an ambulance be ironic?[/nq]
Not unless the ambulance was on its way to pick that person up because he'd just had a mild heart attack or some other non-life-threatening medical event.

Frank

[nq:1]Exactly what is irony? I know it isn't what most people think it is, but I can't really understand what the dictionary says it is.[/nq]
Best example of irony I've come across is here, written during the early days of WW II.
In Westminster Abbey - John Betjeman
Let me take the other glove off
As the 'vox humana' swells,
And the beauteous fields of Eden
Bask beneath the

[nq:1]Exactly what is irony? I know it isn't what most people think it is, but I can't really understand what the dictionary says it is. Would a person being hit by an ambulance be ironic?[/nq]
No. Or perhaps only very slightly.
To be truly ironic (American sense), the ambulance would have to be coming to take him to the hospital. Imagine that the person had recovered and started to walk a

[nq:2]Exactly what is irony? I know it isn't what most ... Would a person being hit by an ambulance be ironic?[/nq]
[nq:1]No. Or perhaps only very slightly. To be truly ironic (American sense), the ambulance would have to be coming to ... "rescue". It could also be ironic if the person hit was somebody responsible for cutting funding for ambulance driver training.[/nq]
That would be poetic

[nq:1]Exactly what is irony? I know it isn't what most people think it is, but I can't really understand what the dictionary says it is. Would a person being hit by an ambulance be ironic? Maelin[/nq]
None of the things that happen in 'Ironic' by Alanis Morissette actually are ironic:-

Unfortunate, but not ironic.
Many British people claim that Americans do not understand irony, b

[nq:2]Exactly what is irony? I know it isn't what most people think it is, but I can't really understand what the dictionary says it is.[/nq]
[nq:1]Best example of irony I've come across is here, written during the early days of WW II. In Westminster Abbey - John Betjeman[/nq]
OT: Mike! I'm so glad to see you around: I was worrying about you.

Mike.

[nq:1]Many British people claim that Americans do not understand irony, but this is both unfair and untrue.[/nq]
In fact, based on what I've seen in AUE,
it's a bit ironic.

Michael West
Melbourne, Australia

[nq:1]None of the things that happen in 'Ironic' by Alanis Morissette actually are ironic:- [/nq]
And the best part is, she's Canadian, so you can't blame that on us.

[nq:1] OT: Mike! I'm so glad to see you around: I was worrying about you.[/nq]
Thanks. Been in hospital getting a new hip joint.
And picked up a bug.
Mike

M.J.Powell

[nq:1]Subject: Re: Irony From: Django Cat None of the things that happen in 'Ironic' by Alanis Morissette actually are ironic:-[/nq]
On the contrary, they all are. Morissette defines her terms like this:

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you when you think everything's okay and everything's going right.
And life has a funny way of helping you out when you think everything's g