Quote ="Tin Soldier"=#0000FFirony
/irni/
• noun (pl. ironies) 1 the expression of meaning through the use of language which normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous effect. 2 a state of affairs that appears perversely contrary to what one expects.
— ORIGIN Greek eironeia ‘simulated ignorance’.
=#0040FFsarcasm
• noun the use of irony to mock or convey contempt.
— ORIGIN Greek sarkasmos, from sarkazein ‘tear flesh’, later ‘gnash the teeth, speak bitterly’.
Hope this helps......
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There are more forms of irony though. Verbal, dramatic, tragic, historic, and the Alanis Morissette type. Verbal irony, as SEB suggests, can describe sentences such as "as clear as mud". Althought sentences such as "deafening silence" are indeed oxymorons. Only distinguished by the fact that they do not rely on a simile.
Anyway TANCW will correct us all no doubt.
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