Irony
In an interview on To the Best of Our Knowledge on Wisconsin Public Radio, author Douglas Copeland referred to a magazine article he had once read that said only 20% of human beings are hard wired to “get” irony. 20%! That leaves 80% of the population taking things at face value. Can this possibly be? I have always assumed that everyone gets irony. But maybe not. I don't get those cartoons in the paper. I don't even try. Maybe I'm not wired for newspaper comics. Maybe other people aren't wired to get irony--to contain opposites in their brains at the same time.
He said, "People who don’t get irony interpret it as sarcasm.” I do think there's a rampant desire to be hip and clever, which brings sarcasm and irony into play. Sarcasm, though, often has a mean edge, and irony is witty. Jon Stewart is the reigning king of irony.
So “Honk if you know the difference between irony and sarcasm.”
posted by Lucia @ 7:27 PM
5 Comments:
Honk honk! LOL. Thats an amazing fact - hard to believe.
80% of people also think they are above average drivers. I know i am.
Was that sarcasm?
I get irony better than I give it.
But I give and get sarcasm equally. I guess that makes me more mean than ironic.
But I love Jon Stewart, so that may help.
I prefer sarcasm to irony. It satisfies me in many more ways.
Irony - reminds me of ironing and no one likes that.
To quote Maggie, Honk, Honk! I love irony. I love Jon Stewart. I love Stephen Colbert.
I didn't know about the 20% stat, but I can't say it surprises me. After all, look at all the people who still think Dubya is doing a good job.
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