How to define and distinguish between coincedence and irony?

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Danny

Danny

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Hello GTPlanet,

Following a discussion with friends today, despite being able to identify irony, I couldn't for the life of me define it.


Google says:

[SIZE=-1]Irony- incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs; "the irony of Ireland's copying the nation she most hated"[/SIZE]



Anyone have any tips on distinguishing between them in everyday conversation?
 
That’s not a particularly good definition. I like this one better: a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result.

Compare with coincidence: a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection.

Ironic events are a subset of coincidental events, but coincidental events are not necessarily ironic. The key words in the first definition are seems deliberately contrary to what one expects. For example, if you take the lines “A traffic jam/when you’re already late” from Alanis Morissette’s song, you’ll notice that that’s an unfortunate coincidence, but it’s not deliberately contrary to what you expect.
 
There are different kinds of irony. Coincidences can also be ironic
 
Keef
That song, Ironic, is ironic. There's not a bit of irony in it.
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LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

you're a funny guy keef.
 

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not being able to define Irony is quite Ironic, I remember when I was very young asking about a book called "Pumping Irony". I asked my sister and her husband what Irony was and after several minutes of trying to explain it to me what it meant, they finally realized how ironic the situation was!
 
Omnis
There are different kinds of irony. Coincidences can also be ironic
Click to expand...
...

I believe Sage covered irony and coincidences like whipped cream on nipples. He already said what you said.
 
Wikipedia
Definition: irony of a situation is a discrepancy between the expected result and actual results when enlivened by 'perverse appropriateness'.
Click to expand...
Wikipedia
Coincidence is the noteworthy alignment of two or more events or circumstances without obvious causal connection.
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Would this be an example of irony or a coincidence:

One day at school we had a fire drill. While we where standing by the street a fire truck just randomly drives by. So I said, "Well that's ironic."

EDIT: This could actually turn out to be a good topic.
 
No, not really. That's just a coincidence.

Ironic would be the firetruck driving away from your school and your school subsequently bursting into flames.
 
One of the clearest cases of irony I've found is described in the Wikipedia article for the term.

Wikipedia
A situation immortalized in O. Henry's story The Gift of the Magi, in which a young couple is too poor to buy each other Christmas gifts. The man finally pawns his heirloom pocket watch to buy his wife a set of combs for her long, beautiful, prized hair. She, meanwhile, cuts off her treasured hair to sell it to a wig-maker for money to buy her husband a watch-chain. The irony is twofold: the couple, having parted with their tangible valuables, is caused by the act to discover the richness of the intangible.
Click to expand...
 
Omnis
Don't say that. If it's that bad, work hard enough to start your own school.
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Heh, mabey I'll start a sports entertainment wrestling school! Me and my buddy are pretty good at putting on a VERY good wrestling act. Like you see in the WWE. (I know it's fake!!!!!!!!!!!!) We even plan on choreographing a match to put on YouTube! Too bad we're too lazy to choreograph it anytime soon.
 
I have a customer whose Internet connection is with BellSouth. They have their own mail server onsite.

Mail they've sent to addresses on att.net have been rejected as coming from an untrusted network.

AT&T now owns BellSouth.

My customer was not as appreciative of the irony as I was.

Coincidence is a completely different concept. I don't see the confusion.
 
Anything situation similar to that contained within the aforementioned Alanis Morissette song should be considered as not being ironic.

Which is ironic.
 
I once fractured my heel in an accident while riding a Razor Scooter. After I got back from the hospital with a soft cast, I had to use that same scooter to help me get around the house - that's irony.

My younger brother suffered the same fate later that summer - that is coincidence.

ERacer
 
Nope - true, unfortunately. Smashed by heel into the Belgian blocks lining the end of my brother's driveway. His driveway slopes down at a steep angle, so it looked like a fun thing to try the Razor. Then, my idiot brother (look who's talking lol) does the same stupid stunt later that summer. Guess it runs in the family.
 
Getting ready to watch the F1 qualifying this morning and I stick some sausages under the grill... After a few minutes, I try to turn them, but find that they have stuck to the tin foil a bit, and I think to myself that I must avoid this brand in future... still, I get them turned and wait another five minutes. I go to take them out of the grill and the grill pan slides out of the cooker unexpectedly, as I had inadvertently put the grill pan in the wrong way... as it slipped out of my control, I managed stop the tin foil from hitting the deck, but expected "sausages overboard" nevertheless. Amazingly, the sausages had got stuck to the foil again, and my breakfast was miraculously saved from ruin... I think to myself that perhaps I should stick with these sausages, as they are apparently idiot-proof.
 

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