Examples of Irony

Examples of Irony
1. Examples include "yeah, right," meaning no, or "beautiful weather we're having," on a rainy day.

2. Example from George Carlin: A diabetic on his way to the store to buy insulin gets hit by a truck delivering insulin to that store.

3. Example: old horror movies where the woman is going into the basement when the viewer knows there is a monster down there.

4. Have you ever seen a horror movie that has a killer on the loose? You, and the rest of the audience, know that the teenagers should not go walking in the woods late at night, but they think a midnight stroll would be romantic. Needless to say, the teens become the next victims.

5. When watching a talk show, the audience knows why a person has been brought on the show. However, the person sitting in a chair does not know that he is going to be reunited with a former lover. This adds to the suspense and humor of the show.

6. You break a date with your girlfriend so you can go to the ball game with the guys. When you go to the concession stand, you run into your date that is with another guy.

7. You are arguing with your mother, who reprimands you for being "smart." Your reply is a sarcastic, "If you think I am smart, then why won't you let me make some smart decisions?"

8. Your boyfriend shows up in ripped up jeans and a stained t-shirt. With a smirk, you say, "Oh! I see you dressed up for our date. We must be going to a nice restaurant."

9. An old man turned 98. He won the lottery and died the next day…of chronic emphysema from inhalation of the latex particles scratched off decades’ worth of lottery tickets.

10. A traffic jam when you’re already late…to receive an award from the Municipal Planning Board for reducing the city’s automobile congestion 80 percent.

11. You are walking down the street and see a penny; you decide that you will pick it up as you don’t see what good a penny will do. You get on your bus to go home and find that you are a penny short for the fare.

12. Mankind survives in our world using cars, factories and products that end up killing our own environment.

13. Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence – citing that all men were created equal, happened to own slaves.

14. A man sued McDonalds for causing him to gain weight. He won and used the money to open up a fast food restaurant.

15. Curley wore a glove full of Vaseline on his hand to keep it soft; later he got his hand crushed by Lenny.

16. Before Lenny was shot, George told Lenny the story of their dream. Lenny did not know he was going to be shot, but we (as readers) did.

17. The Bush family and the Bin Laden family do business together.

18. Bin Laden submitted a tape discussing his contempt for American customs, and he was wearing a watch made by an American company.

19. At the end of “Story of an Hour”, the doctors claim that she died of “joy that kills.” As readers, we know that this is not true.

20. You tell your friend, “Yeah that sounds like a great idea!” Then you hold your thumb downwards.