Irony
A gap between what is said and what is meant — or between expectation and outcome.
Irony is the family of figures in which there is a deliberate gap between what is said and what is meant. Verbal irony says one thing and signals another. Situational irony describes an outcome that reverses the expectation. Dramatic irony lets the audience see what the character cannot.
Irony depends on a shared frame. The speaker and listener must both recognise the gap; otherwise the irony lands as sincerity and the line becomes the opposite of what was intended. Misread irony is the most common source of online fights.
In quotation, irony is fragile. Quoted out of context, an ironic line reads as the author's earnest position — which is how 'satire' becomes 'scandal' on the way through a screenshot.
“Water, water, every where, / Nor any drop to drink.”
Keep reading the glossary
Deliberate exaggeration for effect — not meant to be taken literally.
An understatement that affirms by denying its opposite — 'not bad' meaning 'good'.
Reproducing a quote with the wording changed — even if the source is correct.
The art of persuasive speaking and writing — the discipline behind every great quoted line.