That's not ironic!!!

That's... that's...

Well I guess it's okay...

>golf clap< for proper use of the tag.

Good shoe, old bean.

Thats golden

applicable > ironic.

Looks like the author won this one.

styckx: Thats golden

No, that's goldic.

Yes, people will pirate anything....

...even pirates.

Not really ironic. You would expect a Chinese company to sell pirated books anyway.

Zing!

/got nothin

Is anything Chinese bound to international law?

Fingercuffs anyone?

Sick farks.

dated... 5-7 years ago this started...

/wuzther

Just from the headline, I thought it wouldn't be ironic, until I found out that it was a Chinese citizen whose work has been stolen.

But it would be MORE ironic if it was a Chinese citizen suing an American for bootleging one of their movies.

More like . These people hurt the cause to change these asshat laws.

Can I contest the proper use? I might be wrong, but I'd think irony would be a publishing company known for its strong anti-piracy stance was guilty of pirating books (the subject is acting opposite to its claims).
A publishing company pirating a book on intellectual property isn't ironic, because it's not necessairly voicing its concern about piracy - just looking for a quick buck.

bersl2: These people hurt the cause to change these asshat laws.

They're only "asshat laws" when you want to steal somebody else's work, yes?

bersl2: These people hurt the cause to change these asshat laws.

I used to think this way. Now I make my living selling intellectual property in the form of software.

We have had our work pirated (by another company) before, and what it meant was reducing the number of my coworkers by half. It's easy to think of them as asshat laws until you see your good friends and coworkers go without a job.

Who cares if it's true irony, as long as it's funny.

/thinks alanis is a tard

Not to take a side in the "use of Irony" arguments, but: Google defines irony.
Ain't Google grand? :)

I thought ironic meant it was made of iron...

Yeah, just need to add by saying it wasn't ironic. Maybe if the Chinx were passing off the book as their own work? But like everybody else I didn't even click the story.

It's unexpected, funny even, but not ironic.

Depending on your point of view.

If reworded to say:

"The most ironic story of the day: Books about intellectual property rights pirated by Chinese company"

When you make the books the subject, then yeah, that would be ironic. A little less poetic, but that is probably the opposite of what could be expected.

Hi. Welcome to Fark.
Come for the Boobies. Stay for
the irony wars.

/thinks the story is ironic
//also likes haiku

Sir Cumference the Flatulent

Second'd

Man, Irony is just the most popular girl at the Literary Term Ball. All the drunken idiots want to dance with her. And over there, in an empty corner, poor Synecdoche trying desperately to hold back her tears.

Meanwhile, Paraleipsis is getting drunk on punch.

Sir Cumference the Flatulent

Since when has popular belief proven validity? Especially in this case, where the vast majority of people don't know how the term is properly applied?

I'm sorry If I completely--listen, I'm still drunk from last night a bit, bear with me here.

The best solution, I posit, would be to create an entirely new word which stands for everything we (meaning you) think irony stands for but in fact doesn't. I humbly submit: Lirony.

And no, I will not get off this ivory tower!

Next thing you know they will be hassling children sketching artwork in museums.....oh, never mind.

bartle

The irony of a situation depends on the subject of the sentence used to describe that situation?

I don't think so. The situation is either inherently ironic, or it is not. (In this case, it is.)

A Communist company practising capitalism with a book that is essentially anti-Communist? There must be some kind of irony there.

Angel of Death

Prove it.

All you wal-mart shopping degenerates are helping China take over the world.

Sir Cumference the Flatulent

Thirded!

I am shocked in the unanimous aggreement of ironicism

uh, not irony.

Congrats to Fark for discovering a breed of internet whiner even more annoying than the Grammar Nazi, the Irony Nazi

Oh and bartle since it is slightly ironic and the headline reads "most ironic story of the day" then the burden of proof is upon you to show that another Fark story today is indeed more ironic.

Ah, this is what intellectual property law should be all about: Punishing people who sell shiat they aren't authorized to sell.

2005-01-15 05:29:11 AM RandomExcess


I thought ironic meant it was made of iron...

That would be ferric.

Ironically (at least for Fark) it's ironic. But the best irony is when prose states one thing, but intends another meaning.

bartle

From Merriam-Webster:

irony ... 3 a (1) : incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result

From the Oxford English Dictionary:

irony ... 2. fig. A condition of affairs or events of a character opposite to what was, or might naturally be, expected; a contradictory outcome of events as if in mockery of the promise and fitness of things.

From the American Heritage Dictionary:

irony ... 2. a. Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs

Irony describes the situation, not the sentence structure chosen by the person who relays it.

The only thing ironic on Fark is that irony-labelled stories are never really ironic. The discussions always devolve into the definition of irony, instead of discussing the stories themselves.

Discuss

/this irony probably isn't ironic at all
//this story seems ironic to me, but what do I know?

oren0

The only thing ironic on Fark is that irony-labelled stories are never really ironic.

This is only ironic if you set aside the fact that most Farkers are morans. Then the mislabeling of a situation or event as ironic would be expected and therefore not ironic.

The discussions always devolve into the definition of irony, instead of discussing the stories themselves.

Well, the stories unto themselves are boring.

Irony is the unicorn of Farkistan

Perhaps we should contact Alanis Morisette to clear things up for us.

Angel of Death
[several definitions of situational (cosmic) irony]
Irony describes the situation, not the sentence structure chosen by the person who relays it.

That's correct. You're also right to say that a situation is or isn't inherently ironic. Also, I regret the "prove it" part which I can only attribute to being awake for two days. But if you examine my post you'll find I never said sentence structure or grammar establishes irony.

My point is that the way the headline is submitted, a person would think that the situation is ironic because the Chinese pirated a book (on intellectual property or otherwise), or, even less ironic, were found guilty of doing so. It isn't. That sort of thing happens all the time and is expected.

The irony of the situation rests on the fact that books outlining a defense of intellectual property were themselves pirated. That is, they were written to prevent an act from occuring and yet became victims of that act.

Sentence structure and grammar ensure that an idea may be shared through language and yet retain the proper thought behind it. I suppose I didn't explain adequately enough.

I'm in China where FT is apparently blocked by the internet censors - either that or the whole site is truly farked, which I doubt. Is the story short enough to paste into the thread? Can someone post the story on another site?

bartle

But if you examine my post you'll find I never said sentence structure or grammar establishes irony.

You sure about that? "It's unexpected, funny even, but not ironic. ... [proposed rewording of headline] ... When you make the books the subject, then yeah, that would be ironic."


My point is that the way the headline is submitted, a person would think that the situation is ironic because the Chinese pirated a book ... or, even less ironic, were found guilty of doing so.

I disagree. I read the headline and instantly recognized the source of the irony, and I think it's really quite obvious. Imagine hearing the headline spoken with a comedian's emphasis and timing: "Chinese company guilty of selling pirated books...about intellectual property rights!" Plenty ironic. Just because the subject ("Chinese company") and the implied verb phrase ("[was found] guilty") do not contain the ironic elements does not mean that the irony is not immediately apparent from the rest of the sentence.