Difference Between Irony and Paradox

Irony vs Paradox

Sometimes words are bandied around in casual conversation until they lose their precise meaning. This happens more often if the original conception of the words is esoteric. Once imprecise notions begin to circulate in popular culture it is extraordinarily difficult to restore these concepts to their original sophistication. Such is the case with irony and paradox.

Actual Definitions of Irony and Paradox
Irony ‘“ refers to real or literary situations or conversations where the evident meaning of a statement or action is incongruous with its intended meaning.
Paradox ‘“ refers to a statement that defies intuition as it leads to seemingly irreconcilable contradictions.

Distortion of Irony and Paradox by Popular Usage
Irony ‘“ is probably a term that you first learned in English class, perhaps with a definition similar to the one written above. However, irony leaped into the spotlight of popular culture with Alanis Morisette’s song ‘Ironic.’ This song sometimes employed situational irony, but often just referred to unfortunate events such as a man who is afraid to fly and when he finally gets on a plane it crashes.
Paradox ‘“ had its heyday when Gilbert and Sullivan wrote ‘A Most Ingenious Paradox’ into their comic opera The Pirates of Penzance. Their paradox is not a contradiction at all, but rather the unusual occurrence of a birth on the 29th of February that makes a man 21 years old, but with only five birthdays to his credit.

Different Types of Irony and Paradoxes
Irony ‘“ there are three main types of irony: verbal, literary, and situational.
Verbal ‘“ is perhaps the easiest of the three to recognize. It occurs when a speaker says one thing that means another or refers to a literal meaning that actually has a deeper meaning that is incongruous with the surface.
Literary ‘“ takes place when the reader knows more about the situation than the characters and we watch them blunder into traps created by their own ignorance.
Situational ‘“ happens when you do one action with a specific intent but the actual outcome is opposite of your original intent.

Paradox ‘“ are concretely found in logical paradoxes and amorphously found in moral paradoxes.
Logical ‘“ self-referencing statements such as the famous ‘All nabobs are liars’ create a paradox within the statement itself. This can be extended to circular logic. Paradoxes often occur in science until all the variables of a situation are known. Currently the famous paradox involving Schrödinger’s cat is unsolved.
Moral ‘“ happens when someone feels that no matter what their actions, there will be the same undesirable outcome. This is not a true paradox, but has come into popular usage.

Summary:
1. Paradox and irony are esoteric terms whose meaning has been distorted by popular culture.
2. Irony deals with incongruities between what is topically perceived and its underlying cause whereas paradoxes are not only incongruous but outright contradictions.
3. Irony touches all facets of our life: in speech, literature, and everyday situations while true paradoxes are confined to the realm of science and math.

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