Saying one thing but meaning the opposite

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 12:00:07PM -0500, Joel S. Berson wrote:
> When someone says "my good friends" but means the opposite, what is
> this figure of speech called?

I know you're expecting an exotic Graecism, but I'm pretty
sure that the usual rhetorical term for this is just "irony".

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

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