Some brief definitions and examples Irony: so many choices! Some brief definitions and examples

Socratic Irony Socratic Irony is when a person pretends to be ignorance of something or someone in order to expose the weakness of another's position. Utilized in a debate or argument, one party may feign a lack of knowledge about a topic and thus will make the other party explain his/her position in great detail. In this way one is forced to explain in great detail the topic that is supposedly so foreign to the other person. It is in explaining the topic, that hopefully the person will expose the fallacy or weakness in the position. http://www.sarcasmsociety.com/irony.html

Socratic Irony Examples: Pretending ignorance out of self interest as in "Well gee, I have no idea who put the empty milk carton back in the refrigerator". There are, however, common and beneficent ways people use Socratic irony. If for example, a child asks his parents about the present underneath their Christmas tree and the parents exclaim, "I have no idea how those gifts got there!" one can see how Socratic irony can play a very important purpose in many American traditions.

Dramatic (or tragic) Irony Tragic irony or dramatic Irony is employed to heighten the suspense in a given situation. In this form of irony the words and actions of the characters, unbeknownst to them, betray the real situation, which the spectators fully realize. The character speaking may realize the irony of his words while the rest of the actors may not; or he or she may be unconscious while the other actors share the knowledge with the spectators; or the audience may alone realize the irony.

Dramatic Irony Example: A perfect example is in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, when Romeo commits suicide when he believes Juliet to be dead.

Verbal Irony Verbal irony is the use of words to convey something other than, and especially the opposite of the literal meaning of the words, to emphasize, aggrandize, or make light or a circumstance or subject..

Verbal Irony Examples: A common example of this use of verbal irony is the scenario of a man staring out a window looking at a miserably muddy rainy day and remarking, "lovely day for a stroll." This remark is ironic because it expresses the opposite of the circumstances. The simple comment, "Oh Great" after something rotten happens is verbal irony.

Situational Irony Situational Irony occurs in literature and in drama when persons and events come together in improbable situations, creating a tension between expected and real results.

Situational Irony Example: If the president of Microsoft, Bill Gates, were to win a contest whose grand prize was a computer system, the irony would be situational because such a circumstance would appear ridiculous or "funny" for a number of reasons. Bill Gates doesn't need a computer, he runs the world's largest software company, and he's filthy rich, so winning a computer seems silly and "ironic".

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