Posted by Justin Parker on May 23, 2009 at 15:41:48:
The true definition of the word irony seems to be one of the most elusive in the English language. I will readily admit that I struggle with it myself, although not on the same level as Alanis Morissette. Whenever a situation arises that I initially feel inclined to dub as ironic, I tend to second guess myself, and often am unable to come to a satisfactory conclusion.
To illustrate my point, I propose this completely hypothetical example: Say our very own renowned running guru Mr. Kenric Andrews were to tell me that I should train harder.
Initially, I would think of this as being ironic, but as always, I find myself questioning whether or not that is an appropriate usage. The closest analogy to this situation I could think of would be the pot calling the kettle black, but that falls short, as the kettle would have to in fact be white.
That said, I humbly ask of our resident forum experts, is this ironic? If not, then what is the appropriate label for such a situation?