I have a theory about irony - developed from watching several flame
wars on chat lists. Generally speaking, Americans have an unfortunate
reputation for not 'hearing' irony. I was puzzled by this - after
all, this is the people who gave us Thurber, etc. They know what it
is. But still, there was the evidence - endless arguments on lists
triggered by misunderstood ironic comments.
I speculated - what is it about American usage that suggests that
ironies are missed. Best I could come up with is a Seinfeld theory.
In American usage, irony exists and even abounds but is signalled -
"Hey, this comment is ironic" (you can tell by my tone, facial
expression, etc.) However, in British usage, (and Australian, and in
French I suspect) irony is virtually the dominant form of speech.
There is no signal - you expect it at any time.
Consequently Europeans consider Americans to be a bit simple and
Americans consider Europeans to be devious - neither true, even in a
general sense. (Tourists excepted) [Ironic comment]. In a forum like
this, where non-verbal signals are impossible and emoticons can be
misunderstood, such errors are frequent and only goodwill and
experience keeps it friendly.
Of course, you shouldn't take ANY of the above seriously - I'm not
American after all! :)
AndrewF
:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
:) :) :) :) :) :) :)
(Now I've done that, I can deny any malicious intent and accuse
objectors of being, er, well....)
I saw the emoticon. "a point REALLY far away? :-)" showed you a
talking about a point infinitely far away, with dry wit.
I think it was King Lear who said,
"Abandon not, therefore, irony lest irony also abandon ye."
Maybe not. :)
Lama
From: "Andrew Gullen"
I herewith abandon and abjure irony when writing on the net. :-)
From: "Andrew Gullen"
> >> Actually, don't parallel rays emerge from a point REALLY far away? :-)
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