No, It's Not Ironic... I Really Don't Think

Motivated in Part by the Alanis Morrissette Song, America Continues to Misuse the Concept of Irony

By Robert Switzer, published Nov 08, 2006
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Sometimes I get frustrated with the constant and seemingly omnipresent misuse of certain words and phrases in the
First and foremost, thanks in part to Alanis Morissette's biggest hit, "Ironic," irony has been one of the most widely misunderstood and misused words in the English catalog. It's evident that the vast majority of this country is convinced that irony is simply a fancy synonym for "coincidence." That it is not.

Irony is a contrast between what is expected and what actually happens. When you have a set expectation of something, and the result is to the contrary, then you have irony. It was a bit ironic, for example, when the Pistons destroyed the Lakers in the NBA Finals a couple years past when the sports pundits almost unanimously predicted the opposite to occur.

It was ironic when the world discovered a couple years ago that Strom Thurmond, candidate for President of the United States running on the Segregation Party's ticket over half a century ago, had fathered the daughter of a black woman.

It would be ironic if you were a tall skinny man and you decided to be Mario from Mario Brothers for Halloween and then discovered that your short, fat brother decided to be Luigi.

Irony is often used in comedy, since the unexpected is so often inherently funny. Just imagine Homer Simpson sitting in a chair wearing a fine suit and reading "The New Yorker." It might not make you laugh but it should at least seem a bit silly.

Irony is not having a thousand forks when all I need is a knife and irony is not meeting the man of my dreams and then meeting his beautiful wife (Morissette lyrics, not my own words). Those are both just unfortunate coincidences, along with every other case in her sob story of a song.

One could take a stab at arguing that these are in fact irony by some stretch. One could hold that having a thousand forks might be unexpected and thus ironic since one would expect to encounter a knife somewhere down the line.

Fine, I'll let you have that one. I still hold that it is clear, however, that this example, and every other in the song, exemplifies the irony/coincidence confusion I'm discussing here.

A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break, for example, isn't ironic by any stretch. Neither is a traffic jam when you're already late. Again, these are just everyday coincidental bummers.

Another word, the misuse of which is strikingly widespread, is impact. Impact is a noun synonymous with collision or effect and never a verb meaning "to have an impact on." For that, substitute affect with an "a," and please avoid effect with an "e," which is a noun and not a verb unless you are referring to bringing something into effect. As a verb, impact only refers to the act of packing things firmly together. Teeth can be impacted, but not concepts.

Some of you reading this probably couldn't care less. Well, if that's what's on your mind I just hope your thought used the word "couldn't" rather than "could." Saying "I could care less" without the negative adjustment obviously implies that you care more than you could, meaning that you do in fact care.

Still, many persons utilize the phrase "I could care less" to mean that they in fact couldn't. This is a little ironic, don't you think?

 
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No, It's Not Ironic... I Really Don't Think

Alanis misuses a common word before a crowd.

Credit: Chris Weeks

Copyright: Getty Images

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Takeaways
  • Irony isn't a synonym for coincidence; it has another meaning entirely.
  • Impact is not to be used as a verb form of its noun counterpart.
  • If you "couldn't care less" than make sure you say what you mean.
Comments
Showing Comments 1 - 6 of 6
 
 
Hilarious article. I loathed this song when it came out and the lyrics always rubbed me the wrong way as well.

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Posted on 05/20/2007 at 3:05:00 AM

 
Gotta beg to differ with ay a little...you are right, some of teh lyrics to ironic are merely unfortunate...BUT...A nos moking sign on your cigarette break is ironic...why? Because it is a CIGARETTE break...it isnt a lunch break or a coffee break or a rest break...it is a cigarette break, therefore, one expects to smoke on their cigarette break...and yet the unexpected outcome is that the are that has been designaated for her to take her cigarette break contains a no smoking sign. Surely i am not alone here...

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Posted on 01/30/2007 at 11:01:00 AM

 
I LOVED THIS ARTICLE. You are so....right, and funny at the same time. After reading this article and also your article on marijuana, you are definitely one of my favorite CP's.

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Posted on 01/11/2007 at 1:01:00 AM

 
Rob, you're ths shit.

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Posted on 11/09/2006 at 9:11:00 AM

 
I wish at the grammy's that year they would have said something like: "This year's winner for best song is without a doubt Alanis Morresette." Then when she goes up to accept, they say "actually, we were just being ironic. That's what irony actually is, darling, have a seat."

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Posted on 11/08/2006 at 10:11:00 PM

 
I could care less, if I cared enough to make the effort to care less. Just kidding. I'm on your side. On a slightly related topic,"Nucular" coming out of the leader of our nation's mouth on a regular basis really bugs me.

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Posted on 11/08/2006 at 11:11:00 AM

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