DailyDirt: Ironic Deaths
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
There are the Darwin Awards and the list of inventors who were killed by their own inventions. Death is always a serious topic, but sometimes the circumstances are just too bizarre not to be a bit amusing in some way. Here are just a few examples.- John Alleman, the unofficial greeter and spokesman for Las Vegas' Heart Attack Grill, died of a heart attack at a bus stop near the restaurant. The restaurant claims to sell the world's "most calorific burger" as well as Flatliner Fries. [url]
- After a cockroach eating contest, the winner choked to death on bug body parts. The prize for the contest was a python worth about $850. [url]
- James W. Heselden, the former owner of Segway, died in a Segway accident after falling off a 30-foot cliff. Heselden also lived in Britain where Segways are only allowed to be operated on private property. [url]
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Filed Under: bizarre, darwin awards, death, eating contest, heart attack, segway
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The last one is probably ironic, because he likely advocated for the safety of segways or something.
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Definition of irony. Anyone? Anyone?
Irony means the use of words to express the opposite of the literal meaning, or an incongruous result - something that turns out the exact opposite of what one would naturally assume.
John Alleman living to be 100 years old while some notable health guru died at 50 would be ironic.
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Re: Definition of irony. Anyone? Anyone?
> the opposite of the literal meaning, or
> an incongruous result - something that
> turns out the exact opposite of what one
> would naturally assume.
Yes, but so many people use the word 'irony' incorrectly these days, that *you* are actually wrong for telling them they're wrong. Apparently if a mistake becomes pervasive enough, the word suddenly doesn't mean what it used to anymore.
'Decimate' is a prime example of this. Masnick constantly uses it in his articles here to mean 'to completely destroy' (as did Obama in last night's State of the Union), when it actually means 'to reduce by 10%'. Since that leaves 90% intact, being decimated really isn't that serious of a blow.
However, the couple of times I've pointed it out, I've been told that I'm the one who's actually wrong because no matter what the real definition of 'decimate' may be, most people think of it as a synonym for 'annihilate', so that's what it now means.
I suspect a similar fate has befallen 'irony'.
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Re: Re: Definition of irony. Anyone? Anyone?
I blame Alanis Morissette. I knew nothing good would ever come from all that angry chick music in the 90's.
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