Grammar Girl on Sarah Palin and Irony

The video of Sarah Palin pardoning a turkey and then giving an interview in front of a turkey slaughter provides the perfect opportunity to talk about irony.

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[cottonwhiskersuk]

You cannot pardon a turkey, since it has presumably committed no crime.

[Kaleb Mullin]

Is irony grammar? Or was this video supposed to be ironic?

[DAVE SCHAUWEKER]

Stop eating meat. Life will immediately be a little less brutal. We tend to think that the way things are is the way things have to be and will always be. Nothing could be further from the truth. Society has changed almost completely in the last 100 years. As individuals, we contract against life "uhhgh(think shivers)" and this keeps us acting according to habitual patterns. As we become older, we become like George's parents on Seinfeld: just a bunch of knee-jerk reactions.

[DAVE SCHAUWEKER]

Here is how the free online dictionary defines grammar ":A normative or prescriptive set of rules setting forth the current standard of usage for pedagogical or reference purposes."

A normative or prescriptive definition of "irony" surely falls under such a definition.

[DAVE SCHAUWEKER]

It's not ironic to me, since my expectation is that Sarah Palin pales in comparison to Grammar girl.

[DAVE SCHAUWEKER]

Irony has to do with the contradiction of the perceiver's expectations.

[Keith Kessler]

Two points:

(1) "...criticize a woman to whom you pale in comparison"

(2) Was "pale in" (a) an intentional play on words (if so, hat tip) or

 (b) a fantastic example of linguistic priming (i.e., unintentional plays on words that arise when thinking about one thing (e.g., Sarah Palin) leads you unconsciously to select one particular word or phrase (e.g., "pale in comparison") out of many possibilities). I hope it's (b), since linguistic priming is a fun form of ... wait for it ... irony.

[Jane Bozarth]

As much a Thanksgiving Day tradition in our house as "Alice's Restaurant." Thank you GG.

[chris wake]

This video hasn't had a new top comment in years...NOW'S MY TIME TO SHINE !

[Brian Gunn]

People always use irony to mean a coincedence. Is that just a common mistake?

[Brian Gunn]

You cannot understand the joke, since you think too literally.