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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Ewe-ess-ens
take-off on 'usns'
Y'all are both right. It was derived from the first person dative/accusative pronoun but used in the nominative. At the same time it was intended to refer to citizens of the USA. In its most proper usage it wasn't intended to be used by anyone other than USns, but once it escaped the tips of my fingers it became public domain and, like children, no longer under the creator's control.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 618
addict
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addict
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 618 |
FWIW, here's how I use the terms.
The definition I use for irony is "mocked by fate". Someone may well say something ironic, but never intentionally so. "Nice driving" would only be ironic if, in the process of shouting it and waving one's clenched fist, one crashed. I accept that many people use the -"Nice weather we're having" when it's raining- definition of irony but that is, to me, simply sarcasm with no intent to harm, if not merely a conversation-starter. I use sarcasm as "a form of expression in which an intended meaning is the opposite of the literal meaning of the words used". My usual intent is humour, not harm.
The incorrect use of the terms irony, ironic, and ironical (yes, I've heard it many times) is one of my pet hates.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
Mike, your definition of irony in the first post in this thread was not quite right. If someone has a near accident, involving someone else, but manages to avoid the actual event by sheer luck or the intervention of some deity, and looks scared or sheepish afterwards, and you yell "Nice driving!", that's irony. If the driver nearly causes an accident and then acts as if nothing happened and you yell "Nice driving!", it could be irony or sarcasm, depending upon the tone of voice you say it in.
- Pfranz
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742 |
>Mike, your definition of irony in the first post in this thread was not quite right.
'Cos I'm in the mood to pick a nit, I feel I ought to point out that the definition given in tsuwm's post was one he found elsewhere, so the phrase, "Mike your defintion of irony in the firstpost" is not strictly speaking 100% correct.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Nice nit-picking...you'll all have to guess at my tone of voice, ha ha ha
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
thanks sjm and jackie (I think); I probably should have said, in that first post, that I found something that exemplifies the whole problem. and 'arnie' claims to be from London, at that.
-joe (po-faced) tuesday
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
Well, something that USns have never shown a great deal of aptitude for, along with logical reasons for invading countries in the Middle East. Is there anything ironic about the putative invasion? "Nice disarmament, Saddam." Tone of voice v-e-e-e-e-e-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-y important.
- Pfranz
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