What irony is, and what it ain't

[snopes]

Irony is one of the most misused words in the English language.

Irony is about the interplay of opposites, not the random proximity of events. It's ironic that Beethoven was deaf, but merely coincidental that Brad Pitt tore his Achilles tendon while playing Achilles in Troy. People miss the distinction and say "ironic" when they mean "coincidental," an abuse encouraged by Alanis Morissette's 1996 hit single, "Ironic," in which situations purporting to be ironic are merely annoying ("a traffic jam when you're already late, a no-smoking sign on your cigarette break").

It is ironic that "Ironic" is an un-ironic song about irony. Is that perfectly clear?

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedi...,1416857.story