response: irony, on language use vs history

reponse to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApJLOVlkd0U

isn't the new use of irony its real meaning?

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• philology
• irony
• philosophy
• relativistic
• skepticism

[kizzyfur]

So what you're suggesting is if enough people are completely misusing a word, then the solution is to alter the meaning of the word?

Wow, Lets make it fit what you think it means, because you were to lazy to learn what it actually means.

[pyrrho314]

@kizzyfur : lazy... want a vocabulary test. No... some areas of language need repair, some don't. Language is changing all the time. Some people abdicate their role in that... that is their problem.

[kizzyfur]

@pyrrho314 I wasn't referring to YOU personally.

When you refer to irony being "used in this way" are you referring to the sort of comment I hear all the time, like bad weather on the day you chose to do an activity, being ironic?

Or is there another common use that I'm missing?

I'm also sure I would lose a vocabulary test.

[pyrrho314]

@kizzyfur : sorry I got so touchy... with old vids you deal with drive bys and sometimes a hair trigger... usually I at least watch the vid first.

Here's the low down... people can overtake word. In the case of irony it sucks. Please believe me I love the true meaning of irony, and indeed, that meaning cannot go away, there is no other term. The irony of something which is true but not in the way intended, and in reality, a garden of subtle types of ideas... so that suck this use ...

[pyrrho314]

@pyrrho314 ... I mean, the use of "irony" as "unexpected" does indeed suck and we are losing a decent term...

OTOH, "begs the question" has a stupid meaning and there are better terms (circular reasoning)... while the phrase itself naturally means "brings the following question to the foreground"...

but in the end, people are the holders of language and eventually you have to give to it, no?

[pyrrho314]

@kizzyfur lol, I hadn't rewatched the video... who are you to say who's misusing a word? You vs the rest of people? Maybe it means what it conveys...

[BombdePlume]

You're right. But isn't it also necessary to resist language mutation to a degree just to keep it from progressing too quickly?

[Cherri59]

English is a bastard language, like any living language. A meaning of a word can change with influx of new population, etc... It can also take on multiple meanings. When reading older literature its good to be aware of the older definitions. The wrong definition of a noun can change the whole meaning of the sentence, for example.

[pyrrho314]

news to me

[pyrrho314]

what? is this just your meds kicking in or something? were you posting in reply to another video?