Definition:
A trope (or figure of speech) in which the intended meaning of a statement differs from the meaning that the words appear to express. See also:
Etymology:
A term introduced to English criticism in 1833 by Bishop Connop Thirlwall in an article on SophoclesExamples and Observations:
- Commander William T. Riker: Charming woman!
Lt. Commander Data: [voice-over] The tone of Commander Riker's voice makes me suspect that he is not serious about finding Ambassador T'Pel charming. My experience suggests that in fact he may mean the exact opposite of what he says. Irony is a form of expression I have not yet been able to master.
("Data's Day," Star Trek: The Next Generation, 1991) - "Our researchers into Public Opinion are content
That he held the proper opinions for the time of year;
When there was peace, he was for peace; when there was war, he went.
He was married and added five children to the population,
Which our Eugenist says was the right number for a parent of his generation.
And our teachers report that he never interfered with their education.
Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd:
Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard."
(W. H. Auden, "The Unknown Citizen") - "The simplest form of 'high relief' verbal irony is the antiphrastic praise for blame, for example the 'Congratulations!' we offer to the 'smart Alec' who has let the side down. . . . [Jonathan] Swift's Directions to Servants, his satire of the faults and follies of servants, takes the form of advising them to do what they too frequently already do and reproducing their lame excuses as valid reasons: 'In Winter Time light the Dining-Room Fire but two Minutes before Dinner is served up, that your Master may see, how saving you are of his Coals.'"
(Douglas Colin Muecke, Irony and the Ironic, Taylor & Francis, 1982)
Also Known As: rhetorical irony, linguistic irony
