# A Lesson in Irony



## elefantfresh (17 Jul 2012)

I thought this was rather apt....

The Food Stamp Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is actually proud of the fact it is distributing the greatest amount of free meals and food stamps ever.

Meanwhile, the National Park Service, administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, asks us to "Please Do Not Feed the Animals."



Their stated reason for the policy is because the animals will grow dependent on handouts and will not learn to take care of themselves.

This concludes today's lesson.


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## ney001 (17 Jul 2012)

I don't like this..... tongue in cheek maybe but I don't like the comparison between those requiring food parcels and animals..........the logic escapes me. 

This 'lesson' is not for me!   nuff said


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## Purple (17 Jul 2012)

I get it but it's a blunt oversimplification of a complex issue, to the extent that it becomes offensive.


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## The_Banker (17 Jul 2012)

Very poor taste.


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## elefantfresh (17 Jul 2012)

Jeany - I wasn't trying to offend anyone - get a mod to take it down if we're all feeling this way.
Apologies to ye all.


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## MrMan (18 Jul 2012)

I wouldn't worry about it, some people will read into things and always be offended.


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## truthseeker (18 Jul 2012)

Im not remotely offended - and I get it!

There was a comment passed on here before in a thread about feeding the birds about not to feed them because theyd turn into social welfare birds - and no one jumped on it - how is it different?


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## DerKaiser (18 Jul 2012)

truthseeker said:


> im not remotely offended - and i get it!


+1!


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## Newbie! (19 Jul 2012)

It's a stretch to compare the two. 

I know it's humerous and I'm not personally offended but then again, I'm not in reciept of food parcels or St Vincent de Paul......................


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## delgirl (19 Jul 2012)

truthseeker said:


> im not remotely offended - and i get it!


 + 1!


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## TarfHead (19 Jul 2012)

I think it's ironic ..

.. that the OP labelled the post 'A Lesson in Irony' and offered as an example something that's not ironic .

Cue Alanis Morrissette


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## elefantfresh (19 Jul 2012)

I think I'm going to have to be a lot more careful when I post next time!

And please don't cue Alanis Morrissette...


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## DerKaiser (19 Jul 2012)

TarfHead said:


> I think it's ironic ..
> 
> .. that the OP labelled the post 'A Lesson in Irony' and offered as an example something that's not ironic .
> 
> Cue Alanis Morrissette


 
I think it is quite ironic that one department of an organisation boasts that more people than ever are dependant upon handouts whilst another discourages handouts for fear of making the recipients over-dependant.

There is sufficient incongruity present.

Thinking of Alanis Morissette, the element of Irony that was missing was the lack of incongruity.  A fly in your wine might be unfortunate, but it would only be ironic if a specific reason existed why a fly in your wine might have been a particularly unexpected or notable event e.g. you had an irrational fear of flies, only ate out in winter because of it and were the one person it happened to!


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## DB74 (19 Jul 2012)

The irony in Alanis Morrisette's song arises from the fact that none of the "examples" of irony given in the song are actually ironic!


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## Purple (19 Jul 2012)

DB74 said:


> The irony in Alanis Morrisette's song arises from the fact that none of the "examples" of irony given in the song are actually ironic!



Was is ironic that a song writer wrote a song about a word she didn't understand and yet it became a massive hit?


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## Betsy Og (19 Jul 2012)

The were a scene in Reality bites where Winona (yer wan, the shoplifter) Ryder, was asked to define or explain irony. She hummed and hawed and didnt get the newspaper job. The other character explained it something like this (I'm quoting from my trusty pocket dictionary):

irony "the expression of a meaning through words whose literal sense is the opposite"  - my example being "I will ya" meaning no, which is also a double positive giving a negative (as opposed to the usual double negative giving a positive)

OR

"the development of events in the opposite way to that intended or expected".  This seems a bit weak - we all expect a further 'kicker' - a few of Alanis' would have passed that test. The well known sketch by, ironically (???) I cant remember his name, dissects poor Alanis on the basis that 'the kicker' is absent and all her examples are just bad luck.


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## DerKaiser (19 Jul 2012)

Betsy Og said:


> The well known sketch by, ironically (???) I cant remember his name, dissects poor Alanis on the basis that 'the kicker' is absent and all her examples are just bad luck.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT1TVSTkAXg


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