Irony meaning. What is irony? Irony as protection from external circumstances

Every person has encountered the concept of “irony” in life, but few people understand the meaning of this word and interpret it correctly. “Irony” translated from ancient Greek means pretense, deception, and “ironist” is a person who pretends for the purpose of ridicule.

The attitude towards this genre of humor is twofold. Aristotle and Plato believed that the ability to ironize is characteristic only of a high soul. Theophrastus and Ariston of Keos called this quality concealment of one's own hostility to the world, arrogance, concealment of oneself. Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin wrote: “There is one step from irony to sedition.” The definition of the concept was given based on the attitude towards this genre of humor.

However, everyone is ready to admit how magnetically attractive wit is. People who do not mince words are calmer and more protected. After all, they have a powerful weapon in their arsenal - irony. So what is irony?

Irony is a trope that implies the use of words in a sense opposite to reality: we think one thing, but say another for the purpose of ridicule. Dictionaries display synonyms for the word “irony” for ease of understanding: mockery, ridicule, pretense, banter, sarcasm, grotesque. However, the meaning of these concepts is not the same. Sarcasm is a harsh form of irony, and grotesque is a technique based on excessive exaggeration and contrasts.

Vladimir Dal gives the following definition of the concept: “Irony is denial or ridicule, feignedly clothed in the form of agreement or approval.”

• say to an evil person: “You are a kind-hearted person,” and to a stupid person: “You probably came to ask something intellectual?”;
• to the person’s conceit, answer: “What are we to do with you, such a prince”;
• call the cowardly hero, and the voiceless one Fyodor Chaliapin;
• contrast the “high and important” with the “small” - call Putin Vovan.

Irony does not always carry negative connotations. Sometimes it is expressed in order to show praise and approval, to recognize the object as undervalued. For example, the words: “Well, of course! You’re stupid, yeah!” means approval of the intellectual abilities of the interlocutor.

Why is irony needed? It's cultural to stick your horns in. Don’t tell your opponent straightforwardly: “You’re a stupid blonde” or “You’re senile,” when you can subtly play with words and preserve your dignity. “Goat” for a person is an insult, and ironic synonyms for this curse: “You are a real man” are socially acceptable words. Someone will understand your elegant humor, someone will take your statement as the truth. Doesn't matter. The main thing is to express aggression in a dignified manner and stop the offender.

Psychology claims that irony is an indispensable defense mechanism. She turns the terrible and terrible into the opposite, puts it in a funny light. How many jokes and posts are written about painful things: about Ukraine, about Obama and America, about the low standard of living in the country. Humor inspires, builds immunity, and increases self-esteem. The saving function of irony was best described by Voltaire: “What has become funny cannot be dangerous.”

However, you should not overdo it with self-defense. Excessive use of irony will give you away and tell you about an inferiority complex and hidden pain.

Irony is also of great importance for writing works of art, philosophical treatises, and political monologues for an enhanced impact on the consciousness of listeners. This trope makes speech more interesting and witty.

Words of irony are used in literature no less often than metaphors and hyperboles. Their meaning is to ridicule some phenomenon or character in a work, to make the object appear ridiculous.

The main ironist of Russian literature, undoubtedly, can be called A.S. Pushkin. In the work “Eugene Onegin” he ridicules the nobility: “Like a London dandy dressed,” Pushkin calls the privileged layers of society “the color of the capital,” “the nobility, fashion models.”

In his work he used the irony of A.P. Chekhov. In the work “The Death of an Official,” the author ridicules servility: “Having mechanically come home, without taking off his uniform, he lay down on the sofa and ... died.” “He died” of fear after he sneezed on his boss’s bald head.

“The eternal student” is what the writer calls Petro Trofimov from the play “The Cherry Orchard” for his mental myopia and limitations. Comedy in tragedy.

In an ironic form, N.V. also denounced ugly social relations. Gogol ridiculed officials and landowners. The most striking comedy is manifested in the works: “Old World Landowners”, “Dead Souls”, “The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich”, etc. Gogol's story is carried out precisely in a feigned serious tone, as if the writer really accepts what is happening in this world and looks at what is happening through the eyes of the main characters.

I.A. Krylov makes extensive use of irony in fables. His words “Did you sing everything? This business. So go and dance!” ridicule laziness and irresponsibility. “To dance” here literally means to starve, to be left with nothing. Krylov’s fable “The Motley Sheep” was banned for political reasons, since it is completely imbued with caustic irony over the hypocrisy of rulers who brutally deal with those disliked by the regime, and at the same time expressing feigned sympathy for their unfortunate fate.

Direct irony is a way to present an object in a funny light, to belittle it. Behind approval and agreement there is a hidden hint of a person’s shortcomings and contempt for him. At the same time, it should maintain an element of superiority, but not insult the person.

Anti-irony is a way to present an object as undervalued, to understand the positive behind negative statements. If you hear words in the style: “Where are we, pathetic plebeians…”, know that this is anti-irony.

Self-irony - irony directed at oneself means the ability to laugh at oneself. It can have both positive and negative connotations.

Socratic irony is a way to lead the interlocutor to realize the falsity and meaninglessness of his conclusions. Socrates structured the dialogue as if he agreed with his opponent. Subsequently, with leading questions, he brought the interlocutor to the realization of the absurdity of his own judgment.

Irony is always the opposite, and the sharper it is, the more subtle the humor. It is not always expressed by words, sometimes by intonation of speech, gestures, facial expressions.

If you have a subtle instinct and natural wit, it means that it is easier for you to endure stress and quickly win people’s sympathy. And if not? Is it possible to learn to be ironic? On the one hand, learning the techniques of irony is elementary. Is it difficult to contrast one with the other? The question is the appropriateness of using a joke, the quality of humor. Not everyone is able to appreciate the subtlety and relevance of their own humor.

When using a trope, it is worth taking into account cultural traditions, the mentality of the country, gender, and age of the audience. What is funny to an American is not always funny to a European. In one company jokes in the style of “Comedy Club” are popular, in another - the subtle humor of Chekhov or the satire of Saltykov-Shchedrin.

How to learn to play with words gracefully

1. Read a lot, cultivate aesthetic taste in yourself. Good books will teach you to distinguish “outhouse” humor from high-quality wit, and will develop speech and thinking.
2. Learn to see contrast in everything. The easiest way to be ironic is to say the opposite of what you mean. The sharper the contradiction, the more subtle the humor. Hyperbole (exaggeration) helps to emphasize contrast more clearly. The word “good” can be replaced by the hyperbole “super-duper.”
3. A more complex way to use a trope is to use set expressions. For example, to say about an unintelligent person: “Seven spans in the forehead”, about an incompetent slacker - “People’s craftsman.”

The ability to use irony means a person’s high intelligence and the ability to beautifully convey one’s idea, and its abuse means a disdainful attitude towards people and complexes. It is necessary to see the boundaries where irony begins, and where insult and uncompromising sarcasm begin.

Harsh and frequent irony can trample a person’s dignity. Accidentally thrown words change people's lives for the worse. For example, model Valeria Levitina was told while playing football that she should be placed on the goal: her butt would block the space from balls. The words ate deep into the girl’s soul, she stopped eating normally and became anorexic. Valeria weighed only 25 kg and held the title of the thinnest woman in the world.

Video what is irony

Irony is one of the types of allegory. Allegory is the use of words in a figurative, allegorical sense. Such allegorical words are called tropes in literature (from the gr. tropos - turnover). To most fully answer the question of what irony is in literature, it is necessary to turn to the history of the emergence of this term.

Historical background of irony

Irony as a stylistic device first appeared in ancient rhetoric. For the ancient Greeks, this technique meant pretense, a person’s desire to appear not to be who he really is. Thus, Socrates had the ability to prove his case by contradiction. Aristotle's followers explained irony as a way of naming things by opposite names.

In classicism, the term “irony” was understood as one of the tropes of satire. Romantic aesthetics raised irony to the heights of life philosophy, a specific worldview, and gave irony a tragic connotation. Romantic sentiments in literature have been replaced by the understanding that authors need irony as the most versatile and unbiased view of the world, as a way of holistically depicting an artistic image.

Interpretation of the term irony

By collecting information from different dictionaries, we can give such a detailed definition of the word “irony”. Irony is:

• subtle, veiled ridicule, hidden under apparently serious presentation or imaginary approval;
• a figure of speech that uses the contrast between the explicit and hidden essence of verbal expression;
• feigned agreement, which is in fact a denial;
• allegorical trope, in which a turn of speech is given a meaning that is contrary to the literal meaning or even rejects this meaning altogether;
• This is a type of comedy in which laughter is hidden under a veil of seriousness and hides within itself a feeling of superiority or skepticism.

Types of irony

1. direct - it is used to belittle something, to create a comic situation;
2. anti-irony - on the contrary, it is needed to explain that someone or something was underestimated, that the depicted object in reality is better than it seems;
3. self-irony - irony towards one’s own personality;
4. Socratic irony is a type of ironic attitude toward oneself, in which a person reaches a logical conclusion with his mind and acquires a hidden meaning;
5. An ironic perception of the world is a special view of the world, which makes it possible not to take common beliefs on faith, not to take generally accepted norms seriously.

Examples of the use of irony in literature

Various types of allegory have always lived and continue to live in colloquial speech. They are most often used unconsciously. Artistic speech is a completely different matter. Here traditional forms of allegory are given special importance. The use of irony in literature has mainly become widespread where characters or phenomena are depicted in satirical and humorous tones.

A. S. Pushkin condemns the secular society that is unpleasant to him, mockingly calling it “the color of the capital,” “necessary fools,” “faces encountered everywhere.”

Gogol portrays his low and vile heroes with words of feigned praise. Example: “So, two most respectable men, the honor and adornment of Mirgorod, quarreled among themselves! and for what? for nonsense, for the gander.” Calls Chichikov “the most decent person who has ever existed in the world.”

I. Krylov in his fable describes the crow as a beauty and a talented singer.

Irony can serve as a compositional principle. Her goal in doing this is to show the absurdity of what is happening. For example, in the fairy tales of M. Saltykov-Shchedrin, the lyrics of A. Blok, V. Mayakovsky, the prose of M. Bulgakov, A. Platonov.

Irony(from the Greek “mockery, pretense”) is a turn of phrase, the essence of which is to ridicule an object, which is achieved by describing it from a negative point of view; bringing the situation to the point of absurdity as depicted.

Characteristics of irony

1. Under the guise of ridicule, the author disguises the true meaning that he intends to convey to the reader, listener or viewer.
2. Often the subtext of irony is antonymous with how the object is depicted in the work. For example, praising the virtues of a donkey in a fable aims to ridicule its negative qualities. Given the obvious absurdity of such praise, it becomes clear that it was used deliberately, in order to focus the attention of the recipient of the story on some vice.
3. Irony is included in the text of a literary work in order to endow it with a special artistic assessment and show the author’s dissatisfaction with social realities. It becomes the principle of artistic representation on which the author relies when recreating the images of his characters on the plot outline of the work.

The tasks of irony in a work

Using irony in the text, the author emphasizes the absurdity of the events taking place. His goal is not to make the reader laugh at all, but to focus his attention on the terrible tragedy, and sometimes hopelessness, of the current plot situation. Irony often serves as the basis for creating the image of specific characters, or more precisely, for creating a character as some more abstract, generalized type of hero.

Thanks to irony, the author gives his assessment of reality. In this situation, irony becomes the foundation of the entire artistic narrative ("The Golden Pot" by Hoffmann, "Thick and Thin" and "Death of an Official" by Chekhov, "The Master and Margarita" by Bulgakov).

Irony is most often present in satirical genres (for example, fable). Where irony is used, there may be a place for another type of comic - satire, which is the most merciless way of ridiculing human shortcomings and dissatisfaction with the imperfections of reality.

Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language, Dal Vladimir

irony

and. Greek speech whose meaning or meaning is opposite to the literal meaning of the words; mocking praise, approval, expressing censure; mockery Ironically, mockingly, mockingly; praise, which is worse than scolding.

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. D.N. Ushakov

irony

irony, g. (Greek eironeia) (book). A rhetorical figure in which words are used in a sense opposite to the literal one, for the purpose of ridicule (lit.), for example. words of the fox to the donkey: “Where are you, smart one, wandering from, head?” Krylov.

Subtle ridicule, covered with a serious form of expression or an outwardly positive assessment. There was a wicked irony in his praise. Say something. with irony. Irony of fate (book) - a mockery of fate, a strange, incomprehensible accident.

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. S.I.Ozhegov, N.Yu.Shvedova.

irony

And, well. Subtle, hidden mockery. I. fate, (translated: strange accident). * By scarlet irony - as if in mockery.

adj. ironic, -aya, -oe.

New explanatory dictionary of the Russian language, T. F. Efremova.

irony

and. Subtle ridicule, covered with a serious form of expression or an outwardly positive assessment.

and. A stylistic device of contrast between the visible and hidden meaning of a statement, creating the effect of ridicule (in literary criticism).

Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998

irony

IRONY (from the Greek eironeia - pretense)

denial or ridicule, feignedly clothed in the form of agreement or approval.

Stylistic figure: an expression of ridicule or deceit through allegory, when a word or statement takes on a meaning in the context of speech that is opposite or negates its literal meaning.

A type of comic when the funny is hidden under the guise of the serious (as opposed to humor) and conceals a sense of superiority or skepticism.

Irony

(from Greek eironеia, literally ≈ pretence),

in stylistics ≈ an allegory expressing ridicule or slyness, when a word or statement acquires in the context of speech a meaning that is opposite to the literal meaning or denies it, casting doubt on it.

Servant of influential masters, With what noble courage Do you thunder with free speech

All those who have their mouths covered.

(F.I. Tyutchev “You were not born a Pole...”)

I. is reproach and contradiction under the guise of approval and consent; a phenomenon is deliberately attributed a property that does not exist in it, but which should have been expected. “Sometimes, pretending, they talk about what should be, as if it exists in reality: this is the irony” (Bergson A., Sobr. soch., vol. 5, St. Petersburg, 1914, p. 166); I. ≈ “...a crafty pretense when a person pretends to be a simpleton who does not know what he knows” (A. A. Potebnya, From notes on the theory of literature, Khar., 1905, p. 381). Usually I. are classified as tropes, less often as stylistic figures. A hint of pretense, the “key” to I. is usually contained not in the expression itself, but in the context or intonation, and sometimes only in the situation of the utterance. I. is one of the most important stylistic means of humor, satire, and grotesque. When ironic ridicule becomes angry, caustic mockery, it is called sarcasm.

In aesthetics, it is a type of comic, an ideological-emotional assessment, the elementary model or prototype of which is the structural-expressive principle of speech, stylistic art. An ironic attitude presupposes superiority or condescension, skepticism or ridicule, deliberately hidden, but defining the style of an artistic or journalistic work (“ Praise of Stupidity” by Erasmus of Rotterdam) or the organization of imagery (character, plot, the entire work, for example in “The Magic Mountain” by T. Mann). The “secrecy” of ridicule and the mask of “seriousness” distinguish humor from humor and especially from satire.

The meaning of art as an aesthetic category has changed significantly in different eras. Antiquity is characterized, for example, by “Socratic irony,” which expressed the philosophical principle of doubt and at the same time a way of discovering truth. Socrates pretended to be like-minded with his opponent, assented to him and imperceptibly brought his view to the point of absurdity, revealing the limitations of truths seemingly obvious to common sense. In ancient theater, one also encounters the so-called tragic I. (“I. Fate”), theoretically understood in modern times: the hero is confident in himself and does not know (unlike the viewer) that it is his actions that are preparing his own death (classic example ≈ “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles, and later “Wallenstein” by F. Schiller). Such an “I. fate" is often called "objective I.", and in relation to reality itself - "I. history" (Hegel).

Art received a detailed theoretical justification and varied artistic implementation in romanticism (theory by F. Schlegel and K.V.F. Solger; artistic practice by L. Tieck, E.T.A. Hoffmann in Germany, J. Byron in England , A. Musset in France). Romantic history emphasizes the relativity of all aspects of life that are restrictive in meaning and significance—everyday inertia, class narrowness, and the idiocy of self-contained crafts and professions are portrayed as something voluntary, taken upon by people for the sake of a joke. Romantic I. is undergoing an evolution: at first it is the I. of freedom - life does not know any insurmountable obstacles for its free forces, making fun of everyone who tries to give it permanent forms; then the sarcasm of necessity - the forces of inertia and oppression overcome the free forces of life, the poet flies high, but he is pulled back, caustically and rudely mocking him (Byron, Hoffmann and especially G. Heine). Romantic history exposed the discord between dreams (ideals) and real life, the relativity and changeability of earthly values, sometimes questioning their objectivity and subordinating art to the goals of aesthetic play. G. Hegel’s opinion on “negative I.” romanticism, although exaggerated, is not without foundation. I. is more negative and subjective in nature and purpose in the concept of the Danish thinker S. Kierkegaard, who expanded it to a life principle - as a universal means of internal liberation of the subject from necessity and coherence in which he is held by a consistent chain of life situations. Essentially “negative” and even “nihilistic”, losing the boundary between truth and error, good and evil, freedom and necessity, I. becomes in the decadent mentality of the “end of the century” (19th), including among some symbolists, about which A. A. Blok wrote bitterly. Among a number of artists and aestheticians of the 20th century involved in modernism (the surrealists, Ortega y Gaset), “nihilistic” art includes the principle of total parody and self-parody of art.

A peculiar concept of “epic I.” as one of the basic principles of modern realism was developed by T. Mann, who, starting from the universality of romantic I., emphasized that I. is necessary for epic art as a view from the heights of freedom, peace and objectivity, not overshadowed by any moralizing. A kind of “ironic dialectic” was reflected in the theatrical method of “alienation” by B. Brecht.

═In the judgments of the classics of Marxism, along with the high assessment of “Socratic I.” contains elements of epic history (Engels in a letter to M. Kautskaya dated November 26, 1885 - see K. Marx and F. Engels, Works, 2nd ed., vol. 36, p. 333≈34) and dialectically reveals the concept "AND. history" (see Letter from F. Engels to V.I. Zasulich dated April 23, 1885 ≈ ibid., p. 26

I. is diverse in Russian literature and criticism: “avenger” and “comforter” in A. I. Herzen; “mocking criticism” of the revolutionary democrats V. G. Belinsky, N. A. Nekrasov, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin; merging with the elements of humor in N.V. Gogol; turning into sarcasm in F. M. Dostoevsky; parody by Kozma Prutkov; romantic by A. A. Blok. Soviet literature (V.V. Mayakovsky, M.M. Zoshchenko, E.L. Schwartz, M.A. Bulgakov, Yu.K. Olesha, I. Ilf and E. Petrov) adopted and developed the art characteristic of Russian realistic literature. 19th century literature She realizes the ironic attitude in a very diverse way: through parody (A. G. Arkhangelsky) and parodic tale (Zoshchenko), grotesque (V. Belov), ironic speech (I. G. Erenburg), contrast of words and situation (A. T. Tvardovsky ).

Lit.: Losev A.F., Shestakov V.P., History of aesthetic categories, [M.], 1965; Borev Yu. B., Comic..., M., 1970; Kierkegaard S., Über den Begriff der Ironie, Düsseldorf ≈ Köln, 1961; Strohschneider-Kohrs J., Die romantische Ironie in Theorie und Gestaltung, Tübingen, 1960; Muecke D. C., The compass of irony, L., (bib. p. 260≈69).

N. P. Rozin.

Wikipedia

Irony

Irony obvious meaning. Irony should create the feeling that the subject under discussion is not what it seems.

Irony- the use of words in a negative sense, directly opposite to the literal one. Example: “Well, you are brave!”, “Smart, smart...”. Here positive statements have negative connotations.

Examples of the use of the word irony in literature.

Hence his autonomy, mental health, balance, irony, detachment - in short, wisdom.

Bizarre interweaving of fiction and reality, depth of psychological analysis, paradoxical judgments, soft irony make Akutagawa's works true masterpieces.

Weakened by a diet of rainwater, daffodil petals, beetles, peanuts fed to the squirrels, and stale bread thrown to the tits, the conceptual artist hiding in the hole could not give a worthy rebuff to the enraged Pete, who was never imbued with the seriousness of his artistic mission , performed by the conceptualist, broke three of his ribs, which, according to irony fate and, by all accounts, was the highest conceptual touch of the entire gardening and artistic project and contributed to the fact that this project became known to the general public through subsequent legal proceedings.

At the end of the meeting, the great master with hostility and irony made a remark to Bezukhoy about his ardor and that it was not only the love of virtue, but also the passion for struggle that guided him in the dispute.

On the next Sunday, which is evil irony It was Valentine's Day - the holiday of lovers, Artem bought champagne, an expensive bonbonniere and a gorgeous bouquet.

Then, from collection to collection, we see how more and more carefully, with more love, with increasing skill and with subtle irony Bioy Casares prescribes the background against which the action unfolds, the characters - both main and secondary - become more vivid, specific signs - national and temporal - become brighter and more prominent.

It can be generated either by parts of speech transformed in relation to the original ones in the text, with a modified set of valences, which will be illustrated below, or by secondary meanings of the word, overtones, connotations and occasional meanings involved in the interpretation, as, for example, in the case of the emergence of a reverse meaning at irony, so frequent in Platonov.

And since there is not a single good undertaking and not a single good person in which, if you look at them from a certain point of view and through a magnifying glass, there would not be funny sides, then irony Veilya spared no one.

Christophe's youthful enthusiasm awakened the usual irony, although he tried to hide it, and nothing came of their meeting.

Vadim Passek, Vitberg, Polezhaev, from an emphatically impartial story about the Slavophiles to touchingly tender commemorations of friends, from majestic portraits of Garibaldi, Owen, Mazzini to subtle irony in the characteristics of such figures of the 1848 revolution as Ledru-Rollin and others.

Kharms can be most productively conducted in the forms of its repeated parodic inversion through irony.

In Alikhan's words, Galazov caught a slight irony, mistook her for mistrust and got angry: “Don’t believe me?”

Heinrich could not help but notice that Hauptmann said his last words with bitterness. irony.

With subtle and deadly irony the article exposed Glazunov as detached, decomposed, infected with the prejudices of the petty-bourgeois element, and Glazunov himself should have been horrified when he saw an impartial reflection of his moral character.

Irony most often occurs when it is difficult to distinguish between a mild ironic allegory and sarcasm or ridicule. The Greeks are rightfully considered the founders of many philosophical movements related to awareness of the role of man in society, the interaction of each individual and society as a whole, as well as human self-determination. Therefore, ancient Roman thinkers could not ignore such a concept as irony. According to their definition, this word means “pretence,” the use of words and sentences in the opposite sense, for the purpose of ridicule.

The use of an ironic context in antiquity became one of the main elements in the speeches of philosophers and statesmen. Even then it was clear that information presented in an ironic manner is more memorable and interesting than a dry presentation of facts.

At the end of the nineteenth century, a special literary style was formed, in which the literal and hidden meanings of words are contrasted. Irony in literature is becoming one of the most common techniques for attracting the attention of readers, for adding imagery and lightness to the text. This happened largely due to the appearance of newspapers and magazines. The media began to enjoy incredible popularity thanks to the ironic comments of journalists. Moreover, this was used not only in stories about funny incidents, but also in covering new laws and events of international importance.

Irony is a subtle mockery expressed in a hidden form (evil irony, irony of fate, strange accident). This is what S.I. writes about her in his explanatory dictionary. Ozhegov is one of the most famous linguists of the twentieth century, a lexicographer in the field of studying the Russian language.

What is irony in the modern sense of the word? First of all, this is an expression where the true meaning of the subject of discussion is hushed up or the obvious one is denied. This creates the feeling that the subject matter is not what it seems. Irony refers to a rhetorical figurative form that serves to enhance artistic expression.

It is formed under the influence of mentality, national characteristics and priorities in various countries. Therefore, it is impossible to talk about what irony is without considering its interpretation in one way or another.

A simple model of this style is various speech patterns. With their expressive form, they help to give the opposite emotional accusatory meaning to what is said. Examples of irony: “The bullet turned out to be poisoned after hitting the leader’s poisonous body.”

In literature, self-irony is often used to remove pomposity and excessive solemnity of an event. It allows you to convey the author’s attitude to what is happening. For example: “My face, if only it listened to me, expressed sympathy and understanding.” Ironic ridicule allows you to hide a negative attitude towards what is happening and make its style less obvious.

Irony comes in many forms.

• Direct is used to humiliate and make the situation funny.
• Anti-irony performs the opposite task - to show that a phenomenon or person is better than it seems, he was underestimated, was not seen.
• Self-irony - directed at your loved one.

In self-irony and anti-irony, negative words imply a hidden positive: “Where can we, fools, drink tea.”

A special type is Socratic. Self-irony, thanks to which a person comes to a logical conclusion and finds hidden meaning.

What is irony for each person? This special Ironic worldview shows that its adherent does not believe what the majority believes in, does not take general concepts too seriously, allows himself to think differently, more easily, and not so clearly.

Despite the difficulty of some people in perceiving irony, in life, in literature, in films, in theatrical productions and even in painting, this is the zest that makes our life more interesting, not so bland, boring, driven into some rigid framework. This gives you the impulse to look at yourself from the outside. See your imperfection, but not hopelessness. Try to change yourself for the better and with this action help not only yourself, but also the people around you.

You shouldn’t respond to any joke, even an offensive one, with aggression, but it’s better to just smile, and “a smile will make everyone brighter.”