I hate to keep doing this but...that's not irony. If the sign was "Bicycle Crossing" or some other bicycle-friendly signage, then maybe. A public service type of sign reading "Think Bicycle Safety" would be ironic.

The best kinds of irony are headlines like "37 Die in Safety Demonstration" or "Lifeguard Drowns".

This is funny, no doubt, but it's not irony. Also, rain on your wedding day is not irony. Nor is good advice that you just didn't take. In fact, nothing in that song is irony.

>> ^shuac:
I hate to keep doing this but...that's not irony. If the sign was "Bicycle Crossing" or some other bicycle-friendly signage, then maybe. A public service type of sign reading "Think Bicycle Safety" would be ironic.
The best kinds of irony are headlines like "37 Die in Safety Demonstration" or "Lifeguard Drowns".
This is funny, no doubt, but it's not irony. Also, rain on your wedding day is not irony. Nor is good advice that you just didn't take. In fact, nothing in that song is irony.


Ah yes, but a dangerous danger sign is ironic, is it not?
But I agree that Alanis's song is anything but ironic (which makes the whole thing ironic in itself - I think I'm going all cross-eyed again)

No, a dangerous danger sign is not ironic. It's coincidental, tragic, funny...but not ironic.

A "Safety" kind of sign that's also dangerous is ironic. You see what I'm getting at?

Irony has that opposition-of-expectations thing that no other literary device has. But because of that damned song, every kid with a piss-poor literature teacher (which is everyone) thinks that everything is ironic.

A great example of irony is in the movie Dodgeball, the one with Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn. The team's dodgeball coach, who was Irish, gets crushed by a huge "Luck o' the Irish" sign in Las Vegas. Later, Vince Vaughn says, "They don't make a Sorry-your-coach-was-crushed-by-two-tons-of-irony Hallmark card." Funny, funny scene.

>> ^shuac:
No, a dangerous danger sign is not ironic. It's coincidental, tragic, funny...but not ironic.
A "Safety" kind of sign that's also dangerous is ironic. You see what I'm getting at?
Irony has that opposition-of-expectations thing that no other literary device has. But because of that damned song, every kid with a piss-poor literature teacher (which is everyone) thinks that everything is ironic.
A great example of irony is in the movie Dodgeball, the one with Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn. The team's dodgeball coach, who was Irish, gets crushed by a huge "Luck o' the Irish" sign in Las Vegas. Later, Vince Vaughn says, "They don't make a Sorry-your-coach-was-crushed-by-two-tons-of-irony Hallmark card." Funny, funny scene.


Alright. I see your point. You got it right on the nose thought. My english teacher was royally messed up and found irony in EVERYTHING! Our final exam once was simply "In 3 pages, describe the irony in Hamlet", I shit you not!

Still though, I'm not going to update the title of this video so that I can attract more viewers!

>> ^pierrekrahn:

Still though, I'm not going to update the title of this video so that I can attract more viewers!

I wouldn't change it either!

Now excuse me, as my wrinkly clothes need some irony.

It's like RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-HAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Indeed, where is the irony? The sign was accurately labeled.

I thought it was ironic that the sign was trying to warn of danger, but ended up being the danger itself. I took it that the sign fell as just a random occurrence. What makes it ironic is that the sign is supposed to help, not be the danger it warns of.

It would be like if you said "watch out" as someone walked out the door, then they got unexpectedly hit in the face with a wristwatch.

The use of words expressing something other than their literal intention...now that is irony.

I agree this is irony. It says danger but it's a safety sign put in place to warn you, not hurt you. Anyone who disagrees is a Nazi.

Merriam Webster defines irony as "incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result". The sign was supposed to warn people of danger and thus prevent them from getting hurt; instead it directly caused the biker to get hurt. It is ironic.

The sketch was ok, but nothing great... but this discussion ROCKS!

huh?
>> ^HaricotVert:
It's like RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-HAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

You know... on your wedding day!!
And a free ride when you've already paid
Or ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife.
Isn't it ironic? Don't you think?

>> ^djsunkid:
huh?
>> ^HaricotVert:
It's like RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-HAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

i dont like the joke very much and its certainly not irony at its finest.

1 - bikelady
2- sign that says 'danger'
3- bikelady is in danger because of sign that says 'danger'
4- laughtertrack

the joke, imho, is actually anti-ironic (no, not 'just unfortunate). the dangersign delivers what it promises. i'm sure theres a word/term for it? (i dunno, im just a stupid dutchy)

also, i only try to argue against this being ironic because of the lame "this is irony. (..) Anyone who disagrees is a Nazi" comment.

i am not a nazi thank you. whatever the urban dictionary ( http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Irony%20Nazi ) says. if there were any nazis around here, i'd say it would probably the sign (or the laughtertrack, those ARE pure evil).

(or maybe theres a little baby nazi hitler hiding in the bushes in the film, who knows?)

and this: http://www.ww2incolor.com/gallery/albums/germans/nazi_parade_23_03_05.jpg is a nazi my friend. i know how on the internet its fun to throw the term nazi around, but i wouldnt mind people sticking to friendlier and (!) more creative terms.

(not sure if this is actually a laughertrack, if not then im truly sorry for being incorrect)

blegh.

You want irony?
You want irony!?
You can't handle irony!!
I'm not ironic.
You're ironic!
This whole system is ironic!!

I only try to 'ARGUMENT'? -paul4dirt

'NOT that is irony'-rasch187

what kind of English is that? I'm not trying to be rude, but please proofread before posting, otherwise your comment is lost in bad English.

>> ^Sarzy:
Merriam Webster defines irony as "incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result". The sign was supposed to warn people of danger and thus prevent them from getting hurt; instead it directly caused the biker to get hurt. It is ironic.


I'm more of an irony purist, Sarzy, where outcomes must be exact opposites, rather than just plain old incongruent. If the actual outcome is merely incongruous with the expected outcome, then all the goofy scenarios in that song suddenly become terrific examples of irony.

Using the far more liberal incongruent rule, aka dramatic irony, Steve Irwin's death suddenly becomes ironic. In fact many unexpected deaths qualify as ironic in this manner. Most events in life become ironic too.

The Morrissette (tm) brand of irony is fine for the plebs but I like it more than merely incongruous, baby. I like it exactly opposite! <waa-waa pedal action> Ohh, yeah! Do it! Mmmm, yeah!

Sorry.

Man, I love the discussion on videosift sometimes (Godwin's aside). To continue rasch's theme though; "That's not ironic, it's coincidental".

>> ^Schattdaddy:
I only try to 'ARGUMENT'? -paul4dirt
what kind of English is that? I'm not trying to be rude, but please proofread before posting, otherwise your comment is lost in bad English.

I think it's rather ungentlemanly to pick apart the grammar of someone who is not speaking their native language (but happens to be doing a mostly flawless job of it). Wrong word choice perhaps, but the meaning was unmistakable and by no means "lost."

And, yeah, it would have been ironic if it was the danger sign that was endangered. Or if you needed a fork but could only find 10,000 spoons in your silverware drawer. (Not.)

The argument against this being ironic is that the sign promises danger, then provides it just as advertised.

HOWEVER, the purpose of the sign isn't to provide the danger it warns of, it's supposed to prevent people from danger. It's ironic because the sign should make the environment more safe for people, when in reality it accidentally makes it less safe, the exact opposite of it's intent. Just how you like your irony Shuac, the outcome is the opposite!

>> ^residue:
The argument against this being ironic is that the sign promises danger, then provides it just as advertised.
HOWEVER, the purpose of the sign isn't to provide the danger it warns of, it's supposed to prevent people from danger. It's ironic because the sign should make the environment more safe for people, when in reality it accidentally makes it less safe, the exact opposite of it's intent. Just how you like your irony Shuac, the outcome is the opposite!


Yeah, I can buy that a little. Sure, even a 'Danger' sign intends to make us more safe. I concede that point. But think about this: irony isn't a boolean function, I believe there are degrees of it. Accepting this, what would it be if the sign read something different?

See, now we're getting into the rich flavor and pungent aroma of the sort of irony that shuac likey-likey.

And yes, this discourse is far more enjoyable than worrying to death about my retirement funds.

"10,000 spoons, when all you need is a knife" is not ironic.

However, if, while searching for a knife, a giant plaster knife sitting outside a restaurant happens to fall on you...I think that's ironic. A.K.A. "The Dodgeball Effect" alluded to earlier in this thread.

I think it's ironic that I watched this video to laugh (and laughed out loud) then scrolled down and read/got caught up in the intellectual discussion about the meaning of irony and felt stupid, which made me depressed.

With all this discussion about Alanis Morissette and ironic, I have to refer to this stand-up clip by Ed Byrne on the song and irony.
http://www.videosift.com/video/Ed-Byrne-on-the-irony-of-the-song-Ironic-not-being-ironic

It's like goldy, but made of iron.

>> ^thinker247:
"10,000 spoons, when all you need is a knife" is not ironic.

What if they were sporks?

Not ironic, but I still smiled. A little.

Irony purists tend to keep digging down into the definition to the point where situational irony is nearly impossible. "Ok, so if the sign said 'This area has been inspected by the Safety Corps and found to be completely safe' and then the sign fell on someone, THAT would be irony."

I'm not going to apologize for agreeing that this video is an example of irony. There is a sign, designed for alerting people to danger so that they may remain safe - placed there to ensure the safety of others - and the warning sign itself ended up being the most hazardous thing in the area. That is an ironic outcome.

Irony-nazi's are like the Auschwitz gaurds of grammar-nazi's.

I believe that some of the situations stated in the Alanis Morisette song may be ironic with just a little bit of a deeper understanding of them. For example "it's like rain on your wedding day" is not necessarily ironic unless one knows the average annual precipitation in the area and at that day of the year. Consider, "it's like rain on your wedding day in the Sahara desert". With a bit of clarity this becomes "more" ironic.

On that note, perhaps this argument alludes to the fact that irony is not a black or white term, but a gradient that may be applied to a myriad of situations, considering the fullness to which they are presented. As ReverendTed suggested, having more information about the situation may move the event higher on the "irony gradient", to a more "pure form" of irony, as shuac so strongly advocates. Either way, I believe it's ironic.

Well at least one line of the Alannis Morisette song is definitely ironic (and funny because most people who accuse her of not using the word properly use it as an example).

"Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought
"Well isn't this nice...""

Not ironic because he was afraid to fly and died in a plane crash (the commonly cited reason why this line is not ironic), ironic because he thought "Well isn't this nice..."

Definitely irony because the sign was made of iron

Ahaaaa...dat Sign did fell down.