Peeve of the Day: Misuse of the word "Ironic"

Thanks, Alanis. Thanks a whole bunch for introducing the masses to the joys of misusing the word "ironic". Good advice that you just didn't take, indeed. I just received the following Instant Message from my Comic-Sans-loving coworker, Fancy*:

Fancy says: i find it quite ironic that Humpty* is getting a two day training session and Blahseph* and i got nothing.

Nice try throwing "quite" in there, Fancy. Adverbs will help you sound like you know what up.

Let's review the definition of the word ironic. According to Webster, irony can be " the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning" or "incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result". I think we can all agree that the latter definition implies something of a more poetic or absurd nature than it raining on your wedding day.

The important thing to note is that ironic is not a synonym for unfair. Sorry, that's just the way it is. If you think something sucks, say that it sucks. Do not say that it's ironic. Unless you're being ironic. Then it's totally meta. See what I did there?


*Names have probably been changed

Peeve of the Day: Meta/Web 2.0/Synergy

OK so I know none of these words mean the same thing. Obvs. But I am grouping them together because I hate them all in the same way. I feel like people calling things "meta", "web 2.0", and as possessing or resulting in "synergy" all sound like douchey poseurs.

The difference, I feel, is in the setting in which the words are used. It's sort of a high-brow to low-brow scale, like with Old Navy, The Gap, and Banana Republic. They are all selling the same shit, but for varying prices and levels of status points. So Web 2.0 I think would be Old Navy, becuase it's all mainstream and mall-ish. It's all about bright colors and accessibility. Synergy is The Gap, with its emphasis on streamlining and minimalism, and trying to make a Clone Army.

Rounding out the METAphor (lolz) is Bana Republic. Saying something is "meta" is a safe and undergrad-sounding way to say you don't understand it, and buying Banana Republic says that you have enough money to buy nice clothes, but you don't actually understand style and would rather someone else think for you. People who call things meta often buy clothes from Banana Republic and then say they are from Value Village. Probably.