Irony is a concept that a lot of people misuse. In fact, a huge rock song based on irony got it all wrong. (This would be “Ironic” by Alanis Morissette, which contains phrases that are actually not ironic.) So, do you know what “irony” is?
Cracked.com has a funny flowchart about irony to test your skills.
Here’s the definition of irony: the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning: the irony of her reply, “How nice!” when I said I had to work all weekend.
More important is what irony is not. It’s not sarcasm, bad luck, or a simple coincidence. Going back to Morissette’s “Ironic”…
If it rains on your wedding day, that’s a coincidence, not an irony. If you win the lottery and drop dead before claiming the money, it’s good luck followed by bad luck. If you meet the man of your dreams and then meet his beautiful wife, it’s a bummer. But if a song called “Ironic” contains no irony, is that in itself ironic? Nope.
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Nitpick, maybe, but I would actually call sarcasm a specific form of irony.
Regarding poor Alanis Morrissette, perhaps I am giving her way too much credit, but I like to think of her song as a joke that she’s putting over on all of us. It IS ironic — deeply ironic — that a song about irony contains no ironic lyrics. That’s meta-irony! And I like to think she did that on purpose.
Grant, she’s acknowledged that it wasn’t intentional. I just looked for a source, and the best one I could find isn’t perfect:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironic_(song)
There are better mea culpa’s out there but even this one seems clear that it wasn’t intentional. Also, Google “sarcasm versus irony” and you might find some of the results interesting. This suggestion is NOT a stupid troll-like RTFM comment, but rather a sincere comment about possible interest. There are many slants on this and you will have better luck with a search than a single link. In brief, Sarcasm is not often considered a specific use of irony. The closest interrelation I am okay with is that sarcasm makes use of irony.
Anyway, I hope you dig some of what you might find.