Irony vs Irenic - What's the difference?
irony | irenic |
A statement that, when taken in context, may actually mean something different from, or the opposite of, what is written literally; the use of words expressing something other than their literal intention, often in a humorous context.
Dramatic irony: a theatrical effect in which the meaning of a situation, or some incongruity in the plot, is understood by the audience, but not by the characters in the play.
Ignorance feigned]] for the purpose of confounding or [[provoke, provoking an antagonist; Socratic irony.
{{cite news
, date=2008-06-30
, title=Isn’t It Ironic? Probably Not
, first=Bob
, last=Harris
, newspaper=The New York Times
Promoting or fitted to promote peace; conciliatory, non-confrontational; peaceful.
*2001 , (Hywel Williams), The Guardian , 30 Nov 2001:
*:The idea that the Jews of the region are not genetically distinct from other peoples of the area should be an irenic insight.
*2002 , , The Great Nation , Penguin 2003, p. 199:
*:The philosophes contrasted their own irenic calls for tolerance with the church's historical record as the perennial source of cruelty and fanaticism.
*2011 , (Steven Pinker), The Better Angels of Our Nature , Penguin 2012, p. 343:
*:The current comity between the United States and China […] is a recent reminder of the irenic effects of trade.
As adjectives the difference between irony and irenic
is that irony is of or pertaining to the metal iron while irenic is promoting or fitted to promote peace; conciliatory, non-confrontational; peaceful.As a noun irony
is a statement that, when taken in context, may actually mean something different from, or the opposite of, what is written literally; the use of words expressing something other than their literal intention, often in a humorous context.irony
English
(wikipedia irony)Etymology 1
First attested in 1502. From (etyl) ironie, from (etyl), from (etyl) .Noun
citation, accessdate=2011-01-06 }}
ironic], [[w:TheFreeDictionary.com, TheFreeDictionary.com], accessed 4 November 2011: The words ironic'', ''irony'', and ''ironically'' are sometimes used of events and circumstances that might better be described as simply "coincidental" or "improbable," in that they suggest no particular lessons about human vanity or folly. Thus 78 percent of the Usage Panel rejects the use of ironically in the sentence ''In 1969 Susie moved from Ithaca to California where she met her husband-to-be, who, ironically, also came from upstate New York''. Some Panelists noted that this particular usage might be acceptable if Susie had in fact moved to California in order to find a husband, in which case the story could be taken as exemplifying the folly of supposing that we can know what fate has in store for us. By contrast, 73 percent accepted the sentence ''Ironically, even as the government was fulminating against American policy, American jeans and videocassettes were the hottest items in the stalls of the market , where the incongruity can be seen as an example of human inconsistency. Contradiction between circumstances and expectations; condition contrary to what might be expected.
Usage notes
* Some authorities omit the last sense, "contradiction of circumstances and expectations, condition contrary to what might be expected", however it has been in common use since the 1600s.irony, Online Etymology Dictionary
