Ironies II Through VI

i⋅ro⋅ny

1  [ahy-ruh-nee, ahy-er-] Show IPA

–noun, plural -nies.

1.the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning: the irony of her reply, “How nice!” when I said I had to work all weekend.

2.Literature.

a.a technique of indicating, as through character or plot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that which is actually or ostensibly stated.

b.(esp. in contemporary writing) a manner of organizing a work so as to give full expression to contradictory or complementary impulses, attitudes, etc., esp. as a means of indicating detachment from a subject, theme, or emotion.

3. Socratic irony.

4. dramatic irony.

5.an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected.

6.the incongruity of this.

7.an objectively sardonic style of speech or writing.

8.an objectively or humorously sardonic utterance, disposition, quality, etc.

Origin:
1495–1505; < class="ital-inline" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, display: inline; font-style: italic; ">eirōneía dissimulation, sarcasm, understatement, equiv. to eírōn a dissembler + -eia -y ³

Ok. Thank you Dictionary.com.

I just wanted to make sure I was using the right word. Not sarcasm, not sardonic, not satire. Irony.

I guess what I'm talking about is item #5. As in:

Everyone keeps coming up with the ironies of this illness.

And they run the gamut from the sublime, for example,

MyKid remarked suddenly the other day, "You know Mom, even if you have a terrible disease, at least it has a funny name, BOOP!"

to the ridiculous,

The Workman's Comp issue: While Dr.A justifiably admits that there's nothing in the clinical results to support the fact that acquiring BOOP was related to my workplace, why was it that the hardest coughing, the worst mucus, and the general sickness always really started up in the work place? How could we spend a week in Charleston in April, with the flowers in bloom, and I hardly coughed? And why could I walk to work in the blistering cold and feel good and then hit the entrance to my office space and start coughing?

The need to work and write, when you don't really have to:

Freed from the daily grind, I'm still writing, practically everyday on this blog.

And as GraciousRelative pointed out,

As thousands, probably millions of people are becoming redundant (as they used to say in England) due to the Internet, I am, no doubt like many others, finding a new way to outreach to people, for free....on the Internet.

And, to counter balance the steroids pumping through my body and to stop the inflammation that swells my flesh,instead of turning to soy, vegetables and rice -- the magic foods du jour -- I'm turning to my grandmother's practices and the grandmothers of women around the world: whole milk, bone soups, gelatins, meats, and the fats "they" tell you not to eat: chicken fat, coconut oil.

And, even Yoga, which gives me so much spiritual uplift, and a sense of accomplishment, right now,

I cannot practice it, because it tires me out entirely too much.

Something I know was helping my breath, was also wearing me out.

Oh, where will it end?

(That was me being overly dramatic, not ironical.)