# The definition of irony. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 10, 2018, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832 "2018-06-10T18:20:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832/1 "2018-06-10T18:20:27Z")
Charlotte Fox, world famous alpinist, survivor of an Everest disaster, and first woman to summit three mountains over 26,000 feet, [has died](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/08/obituaries/charlotte-fox-61-trailblazing-alpinist-and-everest-survivor-dies.html?module=WatchingPortal®ion=c-column-middle-span-region&pgType=Homepage&action=click&mediaId=thumb_square&state=standard&contentPlacement=11&version=internal&contentCollection=www.nytimes.com&contentId=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2018%2F06%2F08%2Fobituaries%2Fcharlotte-fox-61-trailblazing-alpinist-and-everest-survivor-dies.html&eventName=Watching-article-click) at age 61 from injuries suffered at home _after falling down a steep flight of stairs_. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832/2 "2018-06-10T18:23:18Z")
[Jim Fixx](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Fixx) \*“Fixx started running in 1967 at age 35. He weighed 214 pounds (97 kg) and smoked two packs of cigarettes per day. Ten years later, when his book, The Complete Book of Running (which spent 11 weeks at No. 1 on the best-seller list) was published, he was 60 pounds (27 kg) lighter and smoke-free. In his books and on television talk shows, he extolled the benefits of physical exercise and how it considerably increased the average life expectancy.” “Fixx died on July 20, 1984, at age 52 of a fulminant heart attack during his daily run on Vermont Route 15 in Hardwick.”\* ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832/3 "2018-06-10T18:23:40Z")
There is literally no definition for irony! Sad to hear about this Fox woman though. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832/4 "2018-06-10T19:23:19Z")
It sounds like they were no ordinary stairs though. She may have fallen down four flights. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832/5 "2018-06-10T20:01:25Z")
We just had a death near here last week that struck me as ironic: A drunk woman drove onto a little league field and a man in his late 60s died protecting a couple of kids from her out-of-control car. **The victim** confessed in 2013 to having killed a four-year-old in an unsolved hit and run back in 1968… ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832/6 "2018-06-10T20:05:06Z")
For National Severe Weather Awareness Week, the city of Saint Paul set off the air raid sirens at 6:30 a couple evenings. Normally, they’re only tested once a week, Wednesday, at 1 PM. By setting them off in the evening, all they did was teach people to ignore them when they go off unexpectedly. ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832/7 "2018-06-10T20:53:12Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > For National Severe Weather Awareness Week, the city of Saint Paul set off the air raid sirens at 6:30 a couple evenings. Normally, they’re only tested once a week, Wednesday, at 1 PM. By setting them off in the evening, all they did was teach people to ignore them when they go off unexpectedly. We have that problem where we live. The tornado sirens have gone off frequently the last few weeks, and we have no idea why. Hubby and I both lived in towns (far, far apart) in which the siren went off at noon. We lived here 2 years before we ever heard it, and have heard it 6-7 times in the last month. Once was actually for a tornado. I will believe an alert from my phone before I’ll believe the siren. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832/8 "2018-06-10T21:12:50Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Charlotte Fox, world famous alpinist, survivor of an Everest disaster, and first woman to summit three mountains over 26,000 feet, [has died](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/08/obituaries/charlotte-fox-61-trailblazing-alpinist-and-everest-survivor-dies.html?module=WatchingPortal®ion=c-column-middle-span-region&pgType=Homepage&action=click&mediaId=thumb_square&state=standard&contentPlacement=11&version=internal&contentCollection=www.nytimes.com&contentId=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2018%2F06%2F08%2Fobituaries%2Fcharlotte-fox-61-trailblazing-alpinist-and-everest-survivor-dies.html&eventName=Watching-article-click) at age 61 from injuries suffered at home _after falling down a steep flight of stairs_. Yes ironic, but somehow comforting. It should be a lesson to all. I live at 11,200. My home reminds me often that there are no ‘do overs’, or time outs. I fell down some neighbors outside stairs just a year ago. Made of railroad ties (14 of them that ended in a face plant). Not quite 911. I did get x-rays the next day. Could have been much, much worse. I count myself as very, very lucky on that one. Ya just never know. And I know Chefguy, that with your recent lose, you know that sometimes the world will do what it does, and there isn’t a thing you can do about it. My condolences. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832/9 "2018-06-10T22:08:09Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Yes ironic, but somehow comforting. It should be a lesson to all. > > I live at 11,200. My home reminds me often that there are no ‘do overs’, or time outs. I fell down some neighbors outside stairs just a year ago. Made of railroad ties (14 of them that ended in a face plant). Not quite 911. I did get x-rays the next day. Could have been much, much worse. I count myself as very, very lucky on that one. > > Ya just never know. And I know Chefguy, that with your recent lose, you know that sometimes the world will do what it does, and there isn’t a thing you can do about it. > > My condolences. True enough. I suspect that while I avoid boats of any sort and believe that the ocean has a malevolent intent for me, I shall likely drown while drinking a glass of water. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832/10 "2018-06-10T22:35:45Z")
Mr.Wrekker has killed many deer, 2 caribou, countless squirrels, rabbits, ducks, and hogs. I will die by car vs deer. I have totalled 2 cars and wrecked many more hitting deer. Yes this will be my fate. Karma is a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832/11 "2018-06-10T22:45:25Z")
Very sad. Every life has infinite value. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832/12 "2018-06-11T04:33:14Z")
> [@Aquadementia](#): > > There is literally no definition for irony! That’s not true! There are many definitions of irony. It is true that there are no _correct_ definitions of irony, however. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832/13 "2018-06-11T05:01:27Z")
The Republican Party. Which party is known as the fiscally responsible, deficit-phobic party? The Republicans. This is despite the fact that reality is 180° from this unearned reputation. Which party is known as the party who defends the interests of everyday people, the “little guy”? The Republicans. This is despite the fact that reality, again, has it’s back turned to this flat out made up bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832/14 "2018-06-11T05:37:54Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > [Jim Fixx](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Fixx) > > \*“Fixx started running in 1967 at age 35. He weighed 214 pounds (97 kg) and smoked two packs of cigarettes per day. Ten years later, when his book, The Complete Book of Running (which spent 11 weeks at No. 1 on the best-seller list) was published, he was 60 pounds (27 kg) lighter and smoke-free. In his books and on television talk shows, he extolled the benefits of physical exercise and how it considerably increased the average life expectancy.” > > “Fixx died on July 20, 1984, at age 52 of a fulminant heart attack during his daily run on Vermont Route 15 in Hardwick.”\* I don’t know all of the facts but I’ve heard it said that he had existing heart problems and running did prolong his life. ETA: from wiki: In 1986 exercise physiologist Kenneth Cooper published an inventory of the risk factors that might have contributed to Fixx’s death.[8] Granted access to his medical records and autopsy, and after interviewing his friends and family, Cooper concluded that Fixx was genetically predisposed—his father died of a heart attack at 43 after a previous one at 35, and Fixx himself had a congenitally enlarged heart—and had an unhealthy life: Fixx was a heavy smoker before beginning running at age 36, had a stressful occupation, had undergone a second divorce, and his weight before he took up running had ballooned to 214 pounds (97 kg).[9] Medical opinion continues to uphold the link between moderate exercise and longevity ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832/15 "2018-06-11T05:54:08Z")
Jimi Heselden, the multi-millionaire businessman who bought the Segway Corporation in 2009, died when the Segway he was riding accidentally went over a cliff. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832/16 "2018-06-11T06:49:53Z")
I had wrinkled shirts. The appliance I decided to use to get the wrinkles out looked very irony. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832/17 "2018-06-11T06:56:57Z")
I have tired blood, I could use…oh, nevermind.😉 ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832/18 "2018-06-11T07:09:03Z")
I propose that IUPAC change “ferric” to “ironic”. Something like ironic chloride would be very interesting to Heisenberg - a compound that wasn’t aware of its own composition, but was obvious to the observer. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832/19 "2018-06-11T08:27:17Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > Very sad. Every life has infinite value. Really? I think this is utter BS. How much value did the lives Hitler or Stalin or Charles Manson have? And literally hundreds of millions throughout history that killed or raped or profited off of the misery of others. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832/20 "2018-06-11T10:16:26Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > Very sad. Every life has infinite value. I think this post is ironic. It extols the sanctity of life, yet it comes from a poster who has a screename of C(yborg)Citizen. I swear, the AIs are coming. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-irony/815832.md?page=2)