Brian van den Broek wrote: ... > A quick check with the on-line text of the second edition of the > Oxford English Dictionary (sadly, a link only available by > subscription) gives as the first meaning:
If we're going to start using dictionary definitions, then I claim that the following joke is truly ironic: An old blacksmith relized he was soon going to quit working so hard. He picked out a strong young man to become his apprentice. The old fellow was crabby and exacting. "Don't ask me a lot of questions," he told the boy. "Just do whatever I tell you to do." One day the old blacksmith took an iron out of the forge and laid it on the anvil. "Get the hammer over there," he said. "When I nod my head, hit it real good and hard." Now the town is looking for a new blacksmith. i‧ron‧ic /aɪˈrɒnɪk/ Pronunciation[ahy-ron-ik] –adjective 1. containing or exemplifying irony: an ironic novel; an ironic remark. i‧ron‧y2 /ˈaɪərni/ Pronunciation[ahy-er-nee] –adjective consisting of, containing, or resembling iron. ;-) (In fact it is ironic in another more conventional sense: i‧ro‧ny1 /ˈaɪrəni, ˈaɪər-/ Pronunciation[ahy-ruh-nee, ahy-er-] –noun, plural -nies. ... 5. an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected. ) -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
