more irony

[Jonathan Lighter]

So by calling something an "irony" I can evoke the richness of
significance that it shares with all other occurrences
but which few mortals are equipped to see.

JL

On Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 8:06 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: more irony
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 7:47 PM -0400 3/22/11, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> >There's already been much discussion here about the current extreme
> dilution
> >of the terms "irony/ironic."
> >
> >Here's today's example, from CNN: "One of the many ironies" of the attack
> on
> >Libya is that "it began on exactly the same date as the invasion of Iraq"
> in
> >2003.
> >
> >I'm not sure what the other "ironies" are, but it should be easy to come
> up
> >with as many as you like.
> >
> >The coincidence of dates is diverting but no more than that. And it's of
> >absolutely no significance. But calling it an "irony" rather than a
> >"coincidence" sounds so much sager.
> >
> Now now.  Coincidences have no meaning.  Ironies, are on the other
> hand, are rich with significance.  Whatever they may be.
>
> LH
>
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