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by SmellyGeekBoy 2644 days ago
Every time someone uses the word "irony" on the internet someone comes along and makes this point. I suppose like stopped clocks these commenters must be right at least occasionally. This is not one of those occasions.
3 comments

I was just calling out a clickbait, didn't know that is a crime. I went back and checked the definition of "irony". This does not match any of the three:

  * the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
  * a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often wryly amusing as a result.
  * a literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character's words or actions is clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character.
It's situational irony, #2 in your list, since you'd expect people working on a film about corruption to be at least reasonably honest.
I blame Alanis Morrisette
If you think about it, it's a pretty good musical trolling exercise.

A song about irony which doesn't contain a single instance of irony.

Now, isn't that ironic?
Alanis has gone on tour with The Lonely Island, replacing Solange as the featured vocalist in their live performance of "Semicolon". When it gets to the part where she points out that all the lyrics are examples where colons would be used, TLI respond "Alanis Morrisette lecturing US about grammar? Isn't that a little... IRONIC?" And then they all segue into the chorus of "Ironic". Good times.
There's definitely a case to be made that some of that song is situational, and if you peer and squint really hard it could even be a deeper irony:

https://www.salon.com/2014/05/08/what_everybody_gets_wrong_a...

The trolling on HN gets better every week!