Please subscribe to my hypothesis. In a general verbal sense, and definitely in the sense of this thread:
An ironic situation is a circumstance that is inversely appropriate to the predicate.
In other words the subject of a crack in the windshield (circumstance) is appropriate to an autoglass van (predicate), but it is inappropriate for an autoglass van to have a cracked windshield (inverse appropriateness). Thus it is ironic.
Or in Ed Byrne’s rant, one of the only things that would make Alanis’s “traffic jam when you’re already late” ironic is if the meeting you were late for was one about relieving traffic congestion. Otherwise it’s just “unfortunate”.
devilsknew IMO there is nothing ironic about what you described. It’s unfortunate and has elements of coincidence, but there’s no irony there.
Nonetheless, it had some elements that were ironic to me on a personal and experiential level because of its’ inverse sameness. Namely, the fact that Google mislead me and got me lost, only to stumble upon a road with the same but inverse name three miles up the road. There seems to be some "irony of sameness in the “houses that all look the same with a brick wall” being used as a description of where we should go in our desperate quest. It may not read as objectively ironic, but believe me, experientially, and in what is not said, it felt “ironic” if ever there was a feeling
So what we’re talking about here is ‘situational irony’ (to distinguish it from dramatic or rhetorical irony). Have a look at the stop sign in this Wikipedia article.
Predicate: Stop sign
Circumstance: graffiti beseeching others not to vandalise Stop signs
Inverse appropriateness: the graffiti is the very vandalism it preaches against
Reuse of the word “stop” is an added comedic bonus.
That you felt the situation was ironic doesn’t make it ironic at all. It’s “just typical” or “one of those things” and definitely has “serendipitous parallels of misfortune” - lovely phrase though I’d say “unseredipitous” though there isn’t such a word. Not picking on you, but this is a perfect example of someone understanding the term incorrectly.
What can I say, the irony is lost on you… There are also some serendipitous things that I left out. But seriously, the fact that, due to Computer Error, I missed Whatley-Whitcomb Road and ended up on Whitcomb-Whatley Road due to Human Error is lost on you? That’s practically a literal and perfect rendition of your “Predicate Inverse” definition
I think that in most cases of Irony there are layers, or overleafs, or subfactors that lend to the ironixism. For example, the irony of my excursion lies in the fact that everyone nowadays has a hand held “smart device” or :droid: that is supposed to give out, and is “linked” to infallible technology, yet, it mislead me from conclusion AB to BA. Smart phones are ironically the least smart reliance.
Ok so what you are missing out is the thing to which the situation is inversely appropriate. In your example, if you had been banging on beforehand about the accuracy and infallibility of modern navigation methods, then that happened to you, you would have irony. But you hadn’t been. It’s the same mistake Alanis makes throughout her song.
I think it is ironic that, on a board filled with smart people, no one has pointed out that, ironically, Geggetta actually will be 18 years old on the day of the concert. This is because, legally, you turn a year older on the day before your birthday. See, for example: Retirement Insurance Benefits: “The United States uses English common law; because of this a person obtains their age on the day before their birthday.”
So, legally, there is a one day difference between the day you actually turn a year older and your birthday celebration. Unfortunately, not too many people are aware of this fact, so unless the ticket taker is a pre-law student, you may ironically be denied entrance for something you legally are fully qualified to attend.
However, I am intimately acquainted with a similar situation. I live on Blipadip Road. The northern end of the road, where it trends rather east-westish, is Southeast Blipadip Rd. The southern end, where it runs more north-southish, is Blipadip Rd Southeast. And every now and then I run across some poor soul who’s looking for a house on B Rd SE which is actually located on SE B Rd. :rolleyes:
