more irony

[Joel S. Berson]

Might it be an irony, perhaps by the anticipation of the news reader,
if the U.S. has as much difficulty in Libya as it has had in Iraq?

Joel

At 3/22/2011 08:22 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>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:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > 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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>
>
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>
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