IRONIA  反話法

HISTRIONIC way of expressing something by playfully creating an appearance of claiming its opposite, typically assuming one's playfulness to be understood by the intended audience.

The use of words to express something diametrically different from their meaning, or in a histrionically mediated sense. test

Hypernym
  • HISTRIONICSRHETORICAL TROPE which crucially involves playful dissimulation of one's real meaning.
    • RHETORICAL TROPE體裁詞格　RHETORICAL DEVICE mainly concerned with the structural semantics of expressions.
Hyponym
  • ANTILOGIAIRONIA in the form of elaborate argumentation in favour of the opposite of one's views,
  • IRONIA-SARCASMIRONIA involving sarcasm. 冷笑法 Sarcastic humorous remark.
    • CHLEUASMUS　冷笑法 Sarcastic reply that mocks an opponent and leaves him no answer.
    • IRONIA-PARODYIRONIA with the central element of parody. 滑稽擬作法 Ironic discourse in playful imitation of a well-known model.
    • IRONIA-SUSTAINEDIRONIA sustained over many sentences or paragraphs 幾句反話法　Irony sustained over several sentences.
      • SELF-IRONYIRONIA in discourse about oneself.
        • MEIOSISIRIONIA consisting in belittling one thing in order to emphasise the real greatness of another.
          • LITOTESIRONIA in which one understates the quality of a thing through negation of the opposite in order to stress its greatness or excellence. 間接肯定法 Periphrastic ironic use of a negative statement to express a strong positive statement, often combination of emphasis and irony. 不少
            • SARCASMUSIRONIA in the form of malicious joyless criticism.
              • IRONIA-PLAYFULIRONIA in which the male or female speaker only playfully pretends that he or she literally means what he or she is saying. [This definition being a marginal example of that form.]
                REF: Lausberg 582-585, Miriam 138f

                Miriam 139 "Antiphrasis, or the broad flout, is irony of one word..." Susenbrotus 11: unius verbi ironia. The examples Susenbrotus gives are all of an apparent etymology indicating the opposite of the meaning of a word. See IRONIA.

                REF: Lausberg 585

                Greek/Latin: Beda p. 615: antifrasis est unius verbi ironia, ut "amice, ad quid venisti?" inter ironiam autem et antifrasin hoc distat, quod ironia prountiatione sola indicat quod intellegi vult, antifrasis vero non voce pronuntiantis significat contrarium, sed suis tantum verbis quorum est origo contraria.

                EX:

                Gospel of St. Math. 26.50: amice, ad quid venisti?

                Ancient Chinese: Apparently rare, but sentential sarcasm is common, cultivated among others by Do1ngfa1ng Shuo4 東方朔 (late second century B.C.) , and exemplified also in Zuo3zhua4n. ZHUANG: 盜亦有道乎 might possibly be taken as ironic.

                Rhetorical device locations: 26
                • 法言 曰：狴犴使人多禮乎？
                • 韓非子 皆以言死。

                  以言死： the point is they do NOT die.

                • 韓非子 然而三人言而成虎。
                • 韓非子 切肉肉斷而髮不斷， 臣之罪一也 援木而貫臠 而不見髮 臣之罪二也 奉熾爐 炭火盡赤紅 而炙熟 而髮不燒 臣之罪三也
                • 韓非子 此明君且常與，

                  ironic use of 明君

                • 韓非子 而賢臣且常取也。

                  ironic use of 賢臣

                • 論語 必也射乎！
                • 論語 「願聞子之志。」

                  Zilu seems to pick up humorously the pattern of what precedes. This is NOT a case of irony, but it may usefully be considered in the context of irony.

                • 論語 「丘之禱久矣。」
                • 論語 君子多乎哉？ 不多也

                  "You see, I'm not really a gentleman, am I?"

                • 論語 吾少也賤， 故多能鄙事

                  "Humble" is not what he was, literally. In any case he had a distant aristocratic background. But of course he was not yet devoted to the pure pursuit of the Way....

                • 莊子 其名為鯤。

                  鯤 is the name of fish-spawn. There is a complex kind of profound irony in the use of this word as a name for a giant fish.

                • 莊子 雖有神禹，

                  神禹

                • 莊子

                  正色

                • 左傳 「吾不如大國之數奔也。」
                • 論語 「君子居之， 何陋之有
                • 論語 「有父兄在， 如之何其聞斯行之
                • 論語 「予欲無言。」
                • 論語 曾謂泰山不如林放乎？」
                • 論語 山川其舍諸？」

                  It stands to reason that Confucius is not expecting to be taken serious in his talk about the world of the spirits of the mountains.

                • 論語 「自行束脩以上， 吾未嘗無誨焉

                  One is certain that Confucius is not suggesting that someone who meets up with less than meat will be refused, in fact. He is certainly setting out economic restrictions on his disciples in this saying.

                • 論語 「自行束脩以上， 吾未嘗無誨焉

                  One is certain that Confucius is not suggesting that someone who meets up with less than meat will be refused, in fact. He is certainly setting out economic restrictions on his disciples in this saying.

                • 論語 「鳳鳥不至， 河不出圖 吾已矣夫
                • 論語 山川其舍諸？」

                  Confucius does not mean what he appears to say, one suspects.待考

                • 論語 則吾必在汶上矣。」
                • 論語 竊比於我老彭。」