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Page 2 of 3 < 1 2 3 > Topic Options #35655 - 07/18/01 12:44 AM Re: Isn't it ironic? Fiberbabe old hand Registered: 01/12/01 Posts: 771 Loc: Portland, Oregon Some time ago, a Harvard English professor (or someone of similar stature who seems to get paid for doing these sorts of things) put together a treatise about how, technically, none of the citations in that song illustrated irony at all. The pithy & brilliant comment that I took away from it was "None of those qualify as irony - the best that any of them can be described is a bummer." Go Harvard. Top #35656 - 07/18/01 03:20 AM The overused word, with the underused concept belligerentyouth old hand Registered: 12/20/00 Posts: 1055 Loc: Berlin >A Harvard English professor I think he is a tad overqualified to be studying poor Miss M.'s poetic botchery under a bright light. Compared to some of the Eurotrash on offer here, Alanis really doesn't sound all that bad. You get these French hussies singing handbag house songs, in which a full sentences would be an odd change. Mind you, English is not their first language. Top #35657 - 07/18/01 07:03 AM Re: The overused word, with the underused concept Jackie Carpal Tunnel Registered: 03/15/00 Posts: 11579 Loc: Louisville, Kentucky handbag house songs My, are you in the mood for unusual sayings today, or something? I've never heard this one, either. Care to elucidate? By the way, thanks for pointing out that the irony song has nothing to do with irony--I hadn't really thought about it before, she said with one hand in her pocket. Top #35658 - 07/19/01 04:44 AM Re: The overused word, with the underused concept belligerentyouth old hand Registered: 12/20/00 Posts: 1055 Loc: Berlin handbag house songs synonyms: main-stream, commercial, widely-marketed, cheesy etc. This can be used when refering to music produced for the masses. Its use (I assume) stems from the '70s custom of ladies putting their handbag in the middle of the dance floor and dancing round it. I of course, can only fall back on heresay concerning this practice, but it seems this was only common in places where very main-stream disco music was played (I guess things like EW&F, Donna Summer, Kool&theGang etc.). Anyone partake in, or view such a ceremony? Top #35659 - 07/19/01 08:53 AM Re: The overused word, with the underused concept AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Registered: 03/15/00 Posts: 6511 Loc: lower upstate New York Anyone partake in, or view such a ceremony? I confess to having done this very thing in my misspent youth (though I'd never heard the term "handbag house song" before now). It was, however, more of a security precaution than any sort of wiccan ritual. Top #35660 - 07/19/01 09:12 AM Re: The overused word, with the underused concept Sparteye Pooh-Bah Registered: 01/05/01 Posts: 1773 the '70s custom of ladies putting their handbag in the middle of the dance floor and dancing round it I've never even heard of that before. Where was I in the 70s? Lord knows I frequented plenty of bars, but apparently the wrong (or right?) kind. Top #35661 - 07/19/01 10:24 AM Re: Handbag dances wow Carpal Tunnel Registered: 11/25/00 Posts: 3439 Loc: New England, USA handbag in the middle of the dance floor and dancing round it .....I've never even heard of that before. Where was I in the 70s? I was raising two boys and working. Only time I got to a bar was if there was a dead body there - and I had to cover the story!Hi Sparteye Top #35662 - 07/19/01 10:43 AM Re: Isn't it ironic? Faldage Carpal Tunnel Registered: 12/01/00 Posts: 13655 she wrote a song called ironic and the only ironic thing about it, is that the woman does not understand the meaning of the word. Well, if she used the term contrary to its meaning isn't that irony? Or is it metairony? Actually® US'ns does use irony. We just call it lying or stupidity. Top #35663 - 07/19/01 11:35 AM Sparteye's bars AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Registered: 03/15/00 Posts: 6511 Loc: lower upstate New York You were probably in the right ones, Sparteye. What I'm talking about are/were those huge booming disco palaces with the black lights and mirror balls. I'm glad I still have my auditory faculties. Top #35664 - 07/20/01 06:19 AM Re: Isn't it ironic? belligerentyouth old hand Registered: 12/20/00 Posts: 1055 Loc: Berlin she used the term contrary to its meaning isn't that irony? Faldage, you know as well as I do that she didn't give 20+ false examples in the song just to call the entire song 'ironic' allowing for the 'metairony' you describe. But I will ask her if I meet her. It could have all made sense though; take this line for example: 'Traffic jam, when you're already late' if she'd made it: Traffic jam, and I'm already late, Go up extra early this morning, Just to avoid the delay. Isn't it ironic, don't you think? YES!! We just call it lying or stupidity. I don't wish to start some we/us debate. I agree that a lot of remarks that attain the term 'irony' are often plain sarcasm, lying, or stupidity. Stupidity being the fitting alternative when considering that meek woman's song. Such widely used meta-language like 'irony' will always be problematic it seems. infertile@family-planning.com Top Page 2 of 3 < 1 2 3 > Previous Topic Index Next Topic Preview Hop to: General Topics ------   Information and announcements   Q&A about words   Wordplay and fun   Words and languages in schools   Miscellany   Weekly Themes   Looking for (writers, speakers, ...) (Old) Weekly themes. 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