5 ms·

So your definition of irony is "an event which shares a trait with another event"?

by dfc 13y ago

ams6110 13y ago
I don't think "ironic" is entirely the wrong word. It can mean a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result In this case it's more accidental or incidental than deliberate....
- dfc 13y ago
  Thank you for indulging my silly word fetish. What is the state of affairs that could be identified as deliberately or merely accidentally/incidentally contrary in this situation: * There is a discussion of a problem in V8. * While reading the discussion a user stumbles across a problem in Chrome. * V8 is a component of Chrome. * The Chrome bug may or may not be related to V8. For the sake of the discussion we can pretend that "deliberate" is not a key component of the definition you give[1] and substitute incidental/accidental. What is the contrary result? Given the memory leak in V8 we know that V8 is not the first software product to be bug free. So it should not be surprising or unexpected that there may be another problem in V8 or Chrome. One of the things that I find interesting about the way irony is tossed around these days is that it signals no information. As a result it is never an "entirely wrong word." Because it does not convey anything to the reader it is merely superfluous. Ironically and randomly have become linguistic NOP sleds. [1] I have no problem with your definition and I realize you were not endorsing OP's conception of irony.
  - ams6110 13y ago
    You're right, I have no idea why the scenario in question could in any way be considered the opposite of what the user expected, and that---perhaps making a leap in logic in conflating the causes---he found it somewhat humorous.
rcthompson 13y ago
I would put it this way: I was expecting to read about a bug, not encounter one myself. So I guess the two outcomes are not exactly opposite, and maybe I'm using "irony" incorrectly here. I'm not sure.

So your definition of irony is "an event which shares a trait with another event"?

by dfc 13y ago

So your definition of irony is "an event which shares a trait with another event"?

I don't think "ironic" is entirely the wrong word. It can mean a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result In this case it's more accidental or incidental than deliberate....

dfc 13y ago
Thank you for indulging my silly word fetish. What is the state of affairs that could be identified as deliberately or merely accidentally/incidentally contrary in this situation: * There is a discussion of a problem in V8. * While reading the discussion a user stumbles across a problem in Chrome. * V8 is a component of Chrome. * The Chrome bug may or may not be related to V8. For the sake of the discussion we can pretend that "deliberate" is not a key component of the definition you give[1] and substitute incidental/accidental. What is the contrary result? Given the memory leak in V8 we know that V8 is not the first software product to be bug free. So it should not be surprising or unexpected that there may be another problem in V8 or Chrome. One of the things that I find interesting about the way irony is tossed around these days is that it signals no information. As a result it is never an "entirely wrong word." Because it does not convey anything to the reader it is merely superfluous. Ironically and randomly have become linguistic NOP sleds. [1] I have no problem with your definition and I realize you were not endorsing OP's conception of irony.
- ams6110 13y ago
  You're right, I have no idea why the scenario in question could in any way be considered the opposite of what the user expected, and that---perhaps making a leap in logic in conflating the causes---he found it somewhat humorous.

rcthompson 13y ago

I would put it this way: I was expecting to read about a bug, not encounter one myself. So I guess the two outcomes are not exactly opposite, and maybe I'm using "irony" incorrectly here. I'm not sure.