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Irony is, therefore, a matter of perceived and real attitude or values of the speaker, rather than a difference between the denotative meanings of the words a speaker uses.
The song "Poor Judd" from the musical Oklahoma! provides an especially clear example of this form of irony: Curley's words and tone of voice are perceived by Judd as expressions of camaraderie and empathy, while the onlookers (and the audience) understand that it is mockery.
The Greek etymology of the word "irony", είρωνεία (eironeia), means pretence, from είρων (eiron), the one who makes a question pretending to be naive, and είρειν (eirein), to speak. The Semitic root of the Greek word is derived from the Akkadian term erewum, "covering", by means of which irony appears as a device to avoid the direct impact of an explicit word.
The Greek word eironeia applied particularly to understatement in the nature of dissimulation. Such irony occurred especially and notably in the assumed ignorance which Socrates adopted as a method of dialectic, the " Socratic irony". Socratic irony involves a profession of ignorance that disguises a skeptical, non-committed attitude towards some dogma or universal opinion that lacks a basis in reason or in logic. Socrates' "innocent" inquiries expose step by step the vanity or illogicality of the proposition. The irony entertains those onlookers who know that Socrates is wiser than he permits himself to appear and who may perceive slightly in advance the direction the "naïve" questioning will take. Fowler describes it:
Socratic irony, as an elegant, ingenious and polite way of communication, is convenient for discussing and debating dogmas without unbalancing nor compromising.
Both understatement and mocking overstatement (ironic hyperbole) are vehicles for irony, when both parties are aware of the disparity between what is said and the realities.
Heavy-handed irony, in which a speaker emphatically states the flat opposite of the truth – perhaps with accompanying body languageThis article is about the form of communication, for other meanings see Body Language. Body language is a broad term for several forms of communication using body movements or gestures, instead of, or as a complement to, sounds, verbal language, or other to deny the words – exemplifies the form of irony called sarcasmSarcasm is the making of remarks intended to mock the person referred to (who is normally the person addressed), a situation or thing. It is often used in a humorous manner and expressed through particular vocal intonations. This is often done by simply o. People may particularly employ sarcasm for the purpose of ridiculeRidicule is a 1996 French film set in the 18th-century at the decaying court of Versailles. The film depicts a world where wit and the art of ridicule was how citizens gained the privilege of begging King Louis XVI to do something about even the most fund, mockery or contempt, frequently uttering a sarcastic phrase. When used in literature, sarcasm is often referred to as verbal irony.
An example of sarcastic speech might be a response such as "Well done" or "Great job", said in an angry tone to a worker who has done something wrong. An ironic "Not bad" would come when a fire-fighter across the street from a burning building sees a child on the window ledge and dashes across through traffic to catch the falling child in his arms. Both the speaker and the fire-fighter understand that "Not bad" doesn't begin to express the half of it. They share a perception of irony.