Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with irony

The Perfectly Good Use Of Your Time Act.

Doctor Suarez — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 12:57:12 -0800

Name some recent pieces of legislation whose name was actually the opposite of the bill's real intent. Basically, I just need as many examples as I can get of bills introduced in congress that were given appealing names that masked their true, often opposite intent. A hypothetical example would be a "Clean Skies" bill that actually loosened air-pollution standards and thus intended to dirty the skies.

And yes, it can involve SOME subjective judgment on your part. For instance, I find the "Defense of Marriage Act" to be the opposite because it turns marriage into a politicized, exclusive institution instead of the voluntary arrangement it is supposed to be. Also, the "Employee Free Choice Act" is a good example because, by removing the secret ballot, it causes employees to be less free in their voting.

Thanks.

Glee, Seinfeld and a Question about Post-Modernism

CollectiveMind — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:45:14 -0800

I keep thinking about the word, "post-modernism." As I understand it, it began after the crash of 1929, and has since represented a ironic self-evaluation of our relativistic values, ideas, cultural touchstones, etc. I've probably missed the nuance, but I'm wanting to get a generalized understanding. If it began after 1929, does that mean the tendency for us to criticize our own navel gazing happens when we experience shattering events, like Pearl Harbor, or 9/11 or the Great Recession of 2008?

And if its marked by irony, is that why there are so many, (some would call) smart, snarky, dark or meaningless comedies beginning with, maybe, Seinfeld, and now including Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office, Glee, etc?

Finally, if this post modern ball got rolling around the 1930s, is it destined to keep rolling forever, meaning I wonder, if post-modern itself is doomed to be eternally post-modern; the old irony continually crushed by the new irony. Hasn't this always been the human condition?

It's already dead.

Palerale — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:46:52 -0800

If you tell a zombie to "Go Forth and Die", is this irony? its the title of a dethklok song.

i am working on a novel.
in tribute i would like to have "Go forth and die." be the only thing
a demon says to his zombies.

an argument arose between my wonderful staff of muses, and it is undecided as to whether or not this is irony.

yeah its a stupid question, but some of the smartest people i know do not agree, so have at it.

Ironic R&B/hip-hop?

miriam — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:47:22 -0800

I'm preparing a lesson on irony and I'd like to illustrate the concept with a song. Problem is, my students are more interested in R&B and hip-hop than in my boring old-person rock and roll. Can you name some (fairly current) R&B/hip-hop songs that use irony? I'm thinking, like, "Born in the USA"-style irony -- nothing too subtle.

Unlike rain on your wedding day

ftrain — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:48:00 -0800

Someone, somewhere--some cultural critic, I think, someone who has yet to die, or who was alive within the last half-century (but I could be wrong there), once said something along the lines of "Irony is the laughter of the slave." Do you know who that was? I have searched, although I could have searched more thoroughly (i.e. physically removed myself from my chair and gone to the library). I might have rewritten Andrei Sinyavsky in my head; he wrote: "Irony is the laughter of the superfluous man." But he also wrote: "Irony is the faithful companion of unbelief and doubt; it vanishes as soon as there appears a faith that does not tolerate sacrilege..." Which is a different sentiment.

I have found these: "Sentimental irony is a dog that bays at the moon while pissing on graves." (Karl Kraus); "Irony in writing is a technique for increasing reader self-approval." (Jessamyn West [the dead one]); "We are all tourists in history, and irony is what we win in wars." (Anatole Broyard). But I'm still looking for the source of the laughter of the slave.

Is Atlas Shrugged meant to be Ironic?

complience — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:22:33 -0800

Is Atlas Shrugged meant to be Ironic? My political views are liberterian with leanings towards mutualism. A friend recommended I read 'Atlas Shrugged' by the Queen of the liberterian movment Ayn Rand.

However I found the book so laughable I couldn't finish it (first time ever not finishing a book). The main premise of the book seemed to be that the second law of thermodynamics had been broken and a man had invented a perpetual motion machine.

I understand liberterians don't like the second law of thermodyanmics, because it means the statement of "all property is theft" by the anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon is true. But to resort to the childish scientific idea of perpetual motion as a solution to this beyond belief.

Did i leave the book too early? I started to think was it meant to be ironic? I noticed ayn rand repeatly used the phrase "motive power" a term often used in thermodynamics.

Is there a specific term to describe an advertising slogan that actually makes you less sure about that aspect of the product?

HeroZero — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:01:12 -0800

Is there a specific term to describe an advertising slogan that actually makes you less sure about that aspect of the product? Examples inside. - Vegan soy cheese often advertises that it has "excellent melting properties," when in fact that message is a guarantee that the cheese will not get gooey and delicious but just separate into a puddle of slime. At least, I assume that's the case; I've never bought the stuff.
- "Crush-proof boxes" for cigarettes are easily crushable.
- Classroom bulletin board paper is often advertised on the box as being "fade-proof" when in fact the brightly-colored paper is usually looking pasty by October.

I'm sure there are many other examples.

I'm not so concerned with the idea that the advertisers are lying -- I mean, we all know that -- but am more interested in the fact that advertising these elements actually draws the consumer's attention to the negative quality that the advertisers are trying to cover up. For instance, I would think I would be much more likely to try some vegan cheese if it didn't advertise its excellent melting properties.

Is there a term for this phenomenon? I'm looking for something more specific than "irony" or "lying" if it exists. Thanks!

Irony in travel through photos

nitsuj — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 06:27:24 -0800

I need help tracking down photos that display irony in travel. Two that came to mind right away were the tribesman with an ipod and automatic weapon, and the "portable pedestrian."

I'd like to track down more images like these -- ones that express the irony that you see in travel: a Mongolian herdsman on his cellphone on the steppe, or a Bedouin kid in a Metallica t-shirt, or a Chinese punk rocker at the family shrine. Stuff like that.

Thank you.

Yes, I've acheived my goal of making you feel bad. That's exactly what I wanted. (No really. It is!)

ferociouskitty — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 05:26:38 -0800

What is it called when the sarcasm is actually masking sincerity? Example: You're with your boss and his superior, joking around and having a good time. The superior asks you how your boss is doing his job, and you reply with a big smile and wink, "Oh, he's terrible. Most disorganized fellow I've ever met," and give your boss a playful jab in the ribs, to obviously indicate that no, you think your boss is wonderful and organized. But the reality is that the words you spoke are your true opinion, and you just used the delivery to imply otherwise. Other than plain ol' passive-agressive, is there a term for this?

Is it ironic?

Secret Life of Gravy — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 06:53:31 -0800

My daughter says she is having trouble grasping the concept of irony, so I promised to come up with some examples. First I told her that irony is a bitter twist of fate-- things turn out differently than what you would expect. Rain on your wedding day is just an aggrevation not irony because weather is always variable, however wearing a wedding dress made out of tissue paper because you are going to be married in Arizona in the middle of a draught and then it rains for the first time in a year-- that would be ironic.

I also explained that irony can be saying the opposite of what you mean; sarcasm is usually ironic. "Oh what nice manners," when someone flips you the bird is not really praising their manners.

I've steered her to the short stories of O. Henry and Guy de Maupassant, however I also want several short anecdotes to illustrate irony. What example would you give to a 14 year old girl?

Sources on irony

kensanway — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 10:05:51 -0800

I'm looking for writing on or examples of "irony"/hipsterism and taste/authenticity/postmodern self-consciousness, etc., or alternatively, historical writing on atomization and society. For the former, I'm pretty open to anything, though I'm particularly interested in theory or examples. Feel free to list your favorite relevant TV shows, novels, movies, Hermenaut articles, etc. To give you an example, some of the things I'm looking at right now are: Dan Clowes comics, absurdist humor (Will Ferrell, Family Guy, Sarah Silverman), Vice Magazine, the Kunkel book, Dave Eggers, Tom McCarthy's Indecision, DFW, post-avant poetry, Arrested Development, "Irony's Edge," and so on.

For the latter, I'm looking for something a little bit more empirical, like Bowling Alone (which I haven't read but heard is awful). I've bought "Culture of Narcissism," but I'm open to work that's more recent or in different subject areas, like architecture.

Give me a good smart-assed domain name suggestion for a craft-themed blog

phearlez — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 11:15:47 -0800

Got a good smart-assed suggestion for a name for a craft-themed blog? About a year ago The Girl and I started making things (see the link in my profile for details if you want details) that we sell at craft markets. It's been a fun project, if not the most profitable in the world. It's also been a source of a lot of good stories, and a learning experience about how certain markets in specific and all markets in general operate. Since it is 2006 we are obligated by UN resolution 36291^e to blog about it.

So I proposed we launch CraftShowAdventures.com to write about it. My Darling Girl pointed out that since we are not a pair of 13-year-old girls, perhaps that name was a little too precious. Her thinking was more along the lines of names like HolyCraft, LoadOfCraft, WhatCraft or something else with a snarky/ironic tone, as we are in fact rather snarky people.

I personally suspect that the largest audience for this kind of thing may tolerate our snark but not be drawn to it explicitly. I also don't care for those (and the first is taken) because I don't think they convey that it's a site about stories and tips. So I've grabbed CraftStories.com but I've not entirely given up on something more amusing and am willing to let it expire unused in favor of something funny. Hell, we could write one that's earnest and one snarky - I've got host space to spare.

But in order to do that, I need you. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to pour the ocean of smart-ass that is MetaFilter into suggestions for an available domain name for smartassed stories about arts, crafts, and the sale thereof.

Whaddaya got?

"Me biased against the group? No, some of my best friends are of that group!"

Firas — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 21:31:51 -0800

Why is "some of my best friends are black/jewish/gay/whatever" seen not only as unconvincing when it comes to disclaiming bias but also as a stereotypical response by one who is biased? I've only run across the particular formation in sarcastic references to veiled bigotry, but I've never quite figured out why having best friends from such-and-such minority doesn't prove that you don't hate said minority. Maybe there's specific history behind the statement?

Can something be funny without being ironic?

rschroed — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 19:09:08 -0800

Can something be funny without being ironic? A friend's current bar bet is that nothing is funny without also being ironic. Everyone's immediate reaction is that this is surely not true, but then no one can come up with an example.

Similes

deshead — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 14:09:10 -0800

Is there a word for the literary concept of "a simile that uses paradox to exaggerate a comparison"? Similes like "quiet as a rolling sea", "soft as nails", "smart as a brick" [+] 'Ironic', 'oxymoronic', and 'sarcastic' all cover the concept in a general way. But those words also cover concepts beyond "paradoxical similes". Is there a single word that captures the specific type of simile I described?

Gimme wisecracks!

Pretty_Generic — Thu, 04 Nov 2004 15:03:21 -0800

I think I should enlarge my reservoir of wisecracks. Can you provide me with any?