How to Use Irony Like a Pro

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Hello, welcome to another class. I’m Robin, and today I’m going to talk to you about irony. Now what is irony? Irony is the use of words that are the opposite of what you mean, as a way of being funny. So why have I chosen this topic? Two reasons. The first one is that January 25 is Opposite Day. So I thought, this is the perfect occasion to talk about irony, which is an opposite. Also, the month of February is Library Lovers’ Day. And we see many, many examples of irony and literature and books and I’m going to show you how to recognize these. 

So let’s talk about the different kinds of irony. There are a few. Okay, so again, this is saying the opposite of what we mean. So verbal irony, okay. Verbal means spoken, something that you say out loud. This would be something like, imagine it’s raining outside and you say, the weather is nice today. Okay, this is irony, because it’s actually not nice. And you say this, this ironic, okay, the adjective of irony is ironic, this ironic sentence to be funny. Okay. Another example. If, if you are speaking, giving a presentation, let’s say to a group of people, and they are silent, and you ask them a question, and no one says anything. You might say, don’t everybody speak all at once. Okay, so this is like, nobody’s saying anything, but you say the opposite. Okay. So these are some examples, there are so many, of irony of spoken, of verbal irony. Okay. So you might, you might do this in your native language, but I’m going to teach you how to do it in English as well. Okay. So that’s verbal irony. 

We also have situational irony. Okay, so this is not something that we say, but this is a situation in life or in literature, that is ironic. Okay, so let’s look at a couple examples of this situational irony. A fire station burns down. Okay, this is ironic, because a fire station is supposed to put out fires. And if it burns down, then that’s a bit strange, right? Let’s look at another situation. A marriage counselor files for divorce. Excuse me. So, if the marriage counselor is someone who is supposed to be helping couples to save their marriage, let’s say if the marriage counselor himself or herself files for divorce, then it’s a bit ironic. Okay, one more example. A pilot has a fear of heights. All right, if you were a pilot, then it doesn’t make much sense for you to have a fear of heights. It could happen, but it’s a bit ironic. Okay, so that’s situational irony. So again, there are an infinite number of situations that can be ironic.

Let’s talk about literature now. Alright. So in literature or in TV series or in movies, there is something called dramatic irony. All right. So this is when the reader or the viewer if you’re watching, knows something that the characters do not. So for example, you as the reader or the viewer of the TV show, you might know who the killer is, or you might know that someone is going to die or you might know a secret that the characters do not know. Okay, so it creates a bit of suspense because you know, but you have to wait, you have to watch, you have to read and see how the story progresses. So this is dramatic irony. 

Okay, let’s look at some other examples of irony and literature. So I’m going to give you two very well known stories. So I hope I don’t give any spoilers if you haven’t read them. A spoiler is when you give away the ending or the meaning, but hopefully they are well-known enough that you already are familiar with the story. Okay, so here are two examples of irony in literature. Let’s take The Wizard of Oz. Okay, we have Dorothy, we have the lion, we have all of the characters that are looking for something in the story, okay? The they’re looking for a heart, they’re looking for a brain, the Tin Man is looking for a brain. But the, the point, the irony of the story is that they all already have what they are looking for. Okay, they reached Oz, they reached the end and they realized that they have been searching this whole time and they already have those things. Okay. And another story is Fahrenheit 451. Okay, so this is a very popular book, it was actually a banned book, which means it was not allowed in schools many years ago. Now it is allowed, Fahrenheit 451. So this story is about firemen who set fire to books, instead of putting out fires. Okay, so this is a very ironic situation, a kind of a parallel universe, let’s say, in which reading is not allowed. And the firemen instead of going to help people with fires with water to put out the fire, they actually go and they set fire to the books. Okay, so this is irony in literature.

And finally, I want to give you an example of a song lyric. So one of my favorite artists who was popular in the 90s, the late 90s is Alanis Morissette. Maybe you’ve heard of her and she had a very popular song around that time called Ironic. And the song lyrics talk about different situations in life that are ironic. So let’s look at the lyrics together. And it gives you quite a few examples. All right.

An old man turned 98 
He won the lottery and died the next day.
It’s a black fly in your Chardonnay. 
It’s a death row pardon two minutes too late. 
Isn’t it ironic? Don’t you think? 

Okay, let’s look at this. And then we’ll look at the chorus. So this man, this old man, he’s 98 and he wins the lottery, which is something that everyone hopes to do. And the next day he dies. Okay, so this is very ironic. All right, a black fly in your Chardonnay, you have a glass of Chardonnay that you are hoping to enjoy and you look inside, and there’s a fly and your drink. Alright, so this is also ironic. And the other situation that she sings about, it’s a death row, pardon two minutes too late. So if someone is on death row, that means that they have committed a crime and they have been sentenced to death. But you can be pardoned from this. Okay, the government can pardon you. But if the pardon comes two minutes too late, that means that the person has already died. Okay, so this is ironic. Now let’s look at the chorus. 

It’s like rain on your wedding day. 
It’s a free ride, when you’ve already paid. 
It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take. 
And who would have thought, it figures?

Okay figures means it’s not surprising that this happens. All right. So let’s look at these examples in the chorus, rain on your wedding day. Your wedding day is supposed to be a beautiful day. Now, we can’t control this. But it is ironic that on the day, excuse me, on the day of someone’s wedding, it would rain. A free ride when you’ve already paid. So if you pay to ride like at an amusement park or something, a roller coaster, and then you get a free one, for example, or someone gives you something in general after you’ve already paid then it’s a bit ironic. It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take. Now we don’t always get good advice. But if someone gives it to us, and then we do the opposite, then that’s a bit ironic, right? Okay, so I hope that you will listen to the rest of this song, Ironic, by Alanis Morissette, it’s a very good one. 

And now I want you to tell me in the comments, has an ironic situation ever happened to you? So think about your life and irony. Do you have an example of this? And what other examples of irony, maybe not in your life, but in literature, for example. What other examples can you think of? So tell me in the comments. I hope that you have enjoyed this lesson. I hope you’ve learned a little bit more about irony and that you’ll be able to recognize it on TV shows and movies and literature, the next time that you read or watch something. So take care. Thanks a lot for watching and I will see you next time. Bye!