Irony

[Dave2002]

Irony has been used on some threads recently, and occasionally it can be confusing, if the person authoring a post behaves (writes) in an unexpected way.

Here is a really great video which deals with this subject - https://youtu.be/mtUlRYXJ0vI

I do wonder if women really are a minority group though - even if they are treated that way. Turns out that this does appear to be correct, though, on a world wide basis - according to this website - https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/...the-world.html

There are a number of countries where women outnumber men - https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/...umber-men.html

Anyway, if you have time, enjoy the video.

[Serial_Apologist]

Irony can mean many things, though. It may be seen as ironic that the word Diversity - used as subject matter in the top link there, but as used as a signifier of socially and ethnically diverse inclusivity, particularly in employment policy - can be seen as inimical to the very objective it seeks to highlight. The irony, as the speaker points out, consists in the goal achieving the opposite of what is intended. It can also apply to a manner of putting a point across in such a way as to negate the literal intention of the speaker. This can be done by a statement being out of character in tone with the known or assumed opinions of its maker. Irony can consist in questionable or non-congruent juxtapositionings of images without need for words attached, such as a tabloid front page showing a picture of starving refugees alongside a picture of a slim woman advertising a diet régime, because images can convey their own implied messages. These can be "doubly ironic" if no shock or insult was intended in posting the images in the first place. How ironic are the rousing patriotic marches in Havergal Brian's anti-war opera "The Tigers"? So the irony rests on associative assumptions which, in turn, the "knowing" observer (who sees the irony) has had to have had prior enlightenment. Irony is in the mind then, since two images juxtaposed for their supposed shock or unintended amusement value only obtain their meaning by reference to commonly agreed (or at any way contended) views about what it is that makes such association ironic by proximity. And by "mind" one is implying agreement in given circles that "one does not put two images of such a kind next to each other without intending to provoke, e.g., anger, agreement of a cynical kind, and so on.

Then there is the quiestion as to whether or not irony is a universal quality, regardless of culture or any stage of linguistic evolution deemed necessary for its consideration. Something as crude as insulting a person while belying what one is saying by smiling all over one's face would probably be considered too unsubtle - so, does irony, or the detection of irony, necessarily imply subtlety in the thinking of those who recognise it when it's present? Whether or not one can generalise the concept of irony further, by, for instance, remarking that it is maybe ironic that one of the wealthiest countries in the world cannot apparently afford to run a health system based on treatment at the point of need, is another question. To my mind, such usage would amount to stretching a useful enough term beyond its remit; at some point, irony must transition into some other quality or qualification.