Hi, American checking in. I was taught in English class in high school that irony is an ambulance running people over, not just sarcasm. I do agree that colloquially (and I am probably guilty of it too) we Americans use the word "irony" to talk about things being presented in a non-genuine and earnest manner, to talk about sarcasm and snark and parody.

[–] MisterFrog@aussie.zone 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I was taught in English class in high school that irony is an ambulance running people over, not just sarcasm

This is a relief, there is hope yet haha

[–] andioop@programming.dev 2 points 1 week ago

I did just remember more from English class: Verbal irony, a type of irony, fits the colloquial definition of sarcasm ("oh, just great" when something upsetting happens). (According to https://literarydevices.net/verbal-irony/ sarcasm is verbal irony used to mock or insult. Don't 100% remember what they said about sarcasm vs verbal irony in English class.) The irony being talked about here is situational irony. It seems people colloquially use "irony" for "situational irony" and get upset when it gets used to refer to the sarcastic type of "verbal irony"