4 ms·
It is remarkable how diluted the word irony has become. More often than not it seems that people think "irony" is serendipity's evil twin. The definition of "ra
by dfc 13y ago
It is remarkable how diluted the word irony has become. More often than not it seems that people think "irony" is serendipity's evil twin. The definition of "random" has also suffered a similar impotence by pervasiveness. It is not uncommon to hear casual conversations where the words random and ironic are used interchangeably.
The next word on the semantic extinction watchlist is literally. If you ask google for the definition of literally you are presented with two senses of the word:
1: in a literal manner or sense; exactly.
informal: used for emphasis or to express strong feeling while not being literally true.
Sooner than later "informal" will be replaced with "2." and literally will literally mean not literally.
- pash 13y agoWhere did the phrase "serendipity's evil twin" come from? 9 results: https://www.google.com/search?&q=%22serendipity%27s+evil+twin%22&oq=%22serendipity%27s+evil+twin%22 https://www.google.com/search?&q=%22serendipity%27s+evil+twi...
- dfc 13y agoThis is just my observation of the current definition of the word. I do not know if I unwittingly stole it from someone. I did not see this result in the list of google hits: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6786082 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6786082
- pash 13y agoIt's a striking phrase, but not quite right. ... If you can recognize the way in which it is not quite right, I think you will have recognized the genius of the attempt.
- dfc 13y agoI do not understand how my opinion can be judged "not quite right"? This is my impression of the concept people seem to have in mind when they use the word irony. I am not saying this is the definition of irony. "From what I can tell most people's definition is something between 'serendipity's evil twin' and 'partially related.'" --dfc[1] [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6786082 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6786082
- pash 13y agoOne may have opinions about opinions.
- dredmorbius 13y agoSerendipity or sarcasm?
- dfc 13y agoSerendipity.
- Chattered 13y agoNothing new. From the OED of 1903: "Now often improperly used to indicate that some hypothetical phrase is to be taken in the strongest admissible sense." Fowler's "Modern English Usage" cites examples going back to the mid-19th century. "Irony" is a different beast, since when used in the sense of "cosmic irony" or "irony of fate", it is serendipity's evil twin. By contrast, I have a gut feeling that there is some deep psychological slipping going on with the way people use modifiers such as "literally", "truly" and "really", and that it is inevitable that these words will lose the sharp distinction implied by a truly and literally literal reading.
- dfc 13y ago> there is some deep psychological slipping going on This is a concept that I am fascinated by, it seems like there must be a term for this. I know that there is a professor that has published something about this and I wish I could find the publication.