I Think This Is How "Irony" Is Defined

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BATS Global Markets is a computerized stock exchange that was going to do an IPO yesterday. But when they put their own stock up for trading on their own stock exchange, a bug in their own software caused their own stock to plunge from $16 a share to fractions of a cent.

The IPO was off.

Comments

  1. Prateek10:27 PM

    Irony refers to sayings, not events.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. gcallah10:57 PM

      "Irony (from the Ancient Greek εἰρωνεία eirōneía, meaning dissimulation or feigned ignorance)[1] is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions." -- Wikipedia

      Or situation.

      Irony is used to refer to situations all the time. Perhaps someone once told you a rule that it can only refer to sayings, but that is just prescriptivist nonsense.

      Delete

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