irony vocab, yo

irony

a discrepancy between expectation and reality that lends insight or style. There are three types–situational, verbal, & dramatic–but verbal is most common in nonfiction rhetoric. In verbal irony, a person says one thing but means another (often the opposite)

hyperbole

Conscious exaggeration used to heighten the effect/emotion. Not intended literally, hyperbole is often humorous.

Litotes

an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite: This is no small problem or You won’t be sorry.

oxymoron

Paradoxical juxtaposition of words that seem to contradict one another: But this peaceful revolution (JFK)

paradox

a statement that contradicts itself, or that must be both true and untrue at the same time: Men work together whether they work together or apart. (Robert Frost)

pun

a word with multiple meanings that is employed to evoke two or more of those meanings OR a play on words that are identical or similar in sound but with sharply diverse meanings, employed to evoke both meanings: Two men walked into a bar, but the third one ducked. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

satire

use of irony or sarcasm as a means of critique, usually of a society or an individual. Satire scales: a phrase can be satirical, or an entire text can be satirical: “[The slaves] suppress the truth rather than take the consequences of telling it, and in doing so, prove themselves a part of the human family” (Frederick Douglass). Douglass shows that the slaves must tell lies to protect themselves from their masters, and in lying to protect themselves, they do what all humans do. The institution of slavery does not view them as human and justifies itself with this view, so the fact that the institution itself forces this proof of their humanity is satirical.

understatement

presenting a situation or thing as if it is less important or serious than it is in reality; describing something with less strength than would be expected: Shakespeare is a pretty good writer.

zeugma

using a single word (once or multiple times) to convey two different meanings in a sentence, often one literal and one figurative (sort of like a pun, but walked out a little more explicitly and/or capitalizing on repetition of the idea, but with a twist). It can be: one word to modify two other words, in two different ways: She broke his car and his heart. He lost his jacket and his mind. OR using the same word in two grammatically similar ways but with compelling differences in meaning: Now the trumpet summons us again — not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need — not as a call to battle, though embattled we are — but a call to bear the burden. Or one from Lil Wayne: real Gs move in silence like lasagna