Define Irony

[pigdog47]

Consider the unlikely scenario of Vlad the Impaler being a contributing editor of Better Homes and Gardens mag. Writing editorials on how to build "eye-catching" outdoor displays to line public streets.

Not much different really, than an Internet Troll, with his very own Internet hate forum giving etiquette lessons.

I welcome and look forward to a scintillating and vibrant discussion of this topic. Or, we can discuss, I dunno, mebbe something such as the pathophysiology of Australian marsupials.

[pigdog47]

I would like to take this moment to express my sincere appreciation for the recent renovation and rehabilitation of the historic wharf.   

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

Ever watch that cartoon long ago with Bugs Bunny? He was trying to get rid a little guy with a bald head and spectacles. Bugs tried everything to get rid of the guy and every time he thought he had accomplished it and was feeling very proud of himself ......suddenly there was the guy standing there saying "Oh now I wouldn't be too sure about that".

[pigdog47]

Not into cartoons, but maybe it is like trying to get rid of crabgrass in a manicured lawn, (without herbicide)  and having to learn to tolerate it. 

We are both convinced that only one of us is Right, and the other is Wrong.

And it hasn't worked out.  At all.  For years.

I feel like I gotta put you back on IGNORE, cause I would prefer to avoid a permanent sanction, which is the inevitable direction the road is headed.

[cumos55]

Merriam-Webster defines irony as:

1: a pretense of ignorance and of willingness to learn from another assumed in order to make the other’s false conceptions conspicuous by adroit questioning —called also Socratic irony

2: a) the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning

b) a usually humorous or sardonic literary style or form characterized by irony

c) an ironic expression or utterance

3: a) : incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result; an event or result marked by such incongruity

b) incongruity between a situation developed in a drama and the accompanying words or actions that is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play —called also dramatic irony, tragic irony

A simple way of putting it is that irony usually signals a difference between the appearance of things and reality.

Ironic statements (verbal irony) often convey a meaning exactly opposite from their literal meaning. 

In ironic situations (situastional irony) actions often have an effect exactly opposite from what is intended

[cumos55]

It is rather ironic that very few people understand the real meaning of irony

[kam1812]

A Prayer For The Sensible

Forgive, O Lord, my little jokes on Thee, and I'll forgive Thy great big joke on me...Forgive me my nonsense as I also forgive the nonsense of those who think they talk sense.

-Robert Frost

As for a definition of Irony...I'm afraid that I suffer from an Irony Deficiency so you're out of luck here...