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Figurative Language – Intersubjectivity and Usage
Edited by Augusto Soares da Silva
[Figurative Thought and Language 11] 2021
► pp. 139–174

Metaphor and irony

Messy when mixed

| University of Birmingham

We address metaphor/irony mixing, as in ironic “What a rocket!” about a very slow train. We agree that the final meaning is often better viewed as resting ironically on metaphorical meaning (the train is very fast) than metaphorically resting on ironic meaning (the train is far from being a [literal] rocket). However, we discover that matters are much messier than previously discussed. The reverse meaning dependence can be supported; it can sometimes be preferable; and there is parallel mixing, with irony and metaphor mutually independent. Also, even when hearers do metaphoric processing mostly before ironic processing, they can benefit from first of all detecting the utterance’s ironicity. This in turn suggests metaphor processing that involves contrast-based, as well as similarity-based, mappings.

Keywords: irony, metaphor, mixtures of figures of speech, serial mixing, parallel mixing, contrast in figures of speech, meaning composition, cognitive processing, attitudes in irony, affective processing
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Examples of irony/metaphor mixing
    • 2.1Some examples suitable for irony-upon-metaphor
    • 2.2An example suitable for metaphor-upon-irony
  • 3.A (non-fatal) problem with metaphor-upon-irony analyses
    • 3.1The potential and cost of metaphor-upon-irony analysis
    • 3.2Pasta and siestas revisited
    • 3.3A middle way
  • 4.The ironicity-first processing strategy
  • 5.Further discussion: When other analyses are appropriate
    • 5.1Contrast-imbued analogy and metaphor
    • 5.2Parallel versus serial mixing of irony and metaphor
    • 5.3Metaphor within attitude-wrapped irony
    • 5.4Hyperbole in metaphor/irony mixtures
  • 6.Summary and conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 19 May 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ftl.11.05bar
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