Which scenarios are examples of verbal irony? Select the TWO correct answers.(8 points)

Question

Haleed put his father’s white lab coats into the washer and started the machine. When the washer stopped, he noticed that everything was pink. He pulled out a red T-shirt and said, “I guess it’s Dad’s chance to be a fashion trendsetter.”

Laura moved to a new apartment that had a tiny garden where she could plant a few flowers. She bought some seedling flower plants and planted them one afternoon. The next morning, she checked on them and saw only a few short stems. “It’s good to see that the rabbits enjoyed my flowers,” she said.

Kim was a board member of a local animal rights group, and she frequently led protests against raising animals for their fur. At the annual banquet for volunteers, Kim arrived wearing her grandmother’s mink coat.

Janeen got a credit card and had the monthly bill emailed to her. The balance quickly became uncomfortably large because she paid only the minimum amount due. While Janeen was paying her bills online, she got up to get a snack. Just then, her mother walked in and noticed the email from the credit card company. She was shocked at the large balance.

Jesse took off springing to escape the onslaught of water balloons that were being catapulted in his direction, when, all of a sudden!, he fell headfirst into the deep end of the pool.

Answer 1

The two scenarios that are examples of verbal irony are:

1. Haleed puts his father’s white lab coats into the washer and starts the machine. When the washer stops, he notices that everything is pink. He pulls out a red T-shirt and says, “I guess it’s Dad’s chance to be a fashion trendsetter.”

   • This is verbal irony because Haleed acknowledges the unfortunate outcome of ruining the lab coats by joking about it in a way that suggests it's a positive thing (being a fashion trendsetter), when in reality it's a negative outcome.

2. Laura moved to a new apartment that had a tiny garden where she could plant a few flowers. She bought some seedling flower plants and planted them one afternoon. The next morning, she checked on them and saw only a few short stems. “It’s good to see that the rabbits enjoyed my flowers,” she said.

   • This is verbal irony as well; Laura is commenting on her disappointment in a sarcastic manner, implying that the rabbits eating her flowers is a positive experience, rather than the negative situation it actually represents.

The other scenarios do not contain verbal irony as they do not involve a discrepancy between what is said and what is meant in a similar manner.