irony

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Csika

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Hi,

Look at this ironic sentence:

My mother-in-law is a brilliant woman.

I wonder why the speaker said this in spite of the literal 'My ... is bossy, etc.'

I know an answer could be 'to criticise'. Anything else apart from that?

Thank you very much.

Csika
 
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5jj

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We would need far more context to comment. On its own, the sentence 'My mother-in-law is a brilliant woman' is not ironic.
 

Csika

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Ok. Two friends are talking. One of them got married last Saturday. His friend asks:

How about your mother-in-law? What is she like?

As a reply the other says in an ironic tone of voice:

She is brilliant.

Why do you think he said that in an ironic tone of voice?
 

5jj

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Ok. Two friends are talking. One of them got married last Saturday. His friend asks:

How about your mother-in-law? What is she like?

As a reply the other says in an ironic tone of voice:

She is brilliant.

Why do you think he said that in an ironic tone of voice?
Presumably he was intending to be sarcastic.
 

Csika

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Hm. I thought irony and sarcasm were the same thing.

Csika
 

emsr2d2

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Hm. I thought irony and sarcasm were the same thing.

Csika

They're not. Look at the lyrics of "Ironic" by Alannis Morissette here for plenty of examples of irony.
 

Van Veen

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Sarcasm is a subset of irony. I will now proceed to write an ironic sentence:

"Alanis Morisette is an expert on the subject of irony."
 
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