WEB CHUTNEY

Irony is defined as,

“A state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often wryly amusing as a result”.

An example of something ironic could be a vegan who refuses to eat meat but will have a pepperoni pizza when hungry. Let’s look at some rather morbid, but sneakily funny moments of irony.

1. A man once drowned in a pool party that was celebrating a year with no drownings at a New Orleans Pool.

One hundred lifeguards were in attendance at the time.

2. The building holding the patent to the fire hydrant burnt down in 1836.

So nobody knows who invented it.

3. John Morales, an actor who played McGruff The Crime Dog, was imprisoned for possessing 1,000 pot plants and a grenade launcher.

Bad Dog!

4. Gary Kremen, the founder of match.com, lost his girlfriend to a man she met on match.com.

It’s okay, Gary, there are plenty of other dating sites to choose from.

5. “Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia” is the fear of long words.

And Phobophobia is the fear of having phobias. Can someone say Ironiaphobia?

6. In 2014, a Los Angeles memorial tree dedicated to George Harrison was killed by an infestation of beetles.

Beatles/Beetles.. get it?

7. A statue of a homeless Jesus sleeping on a bench was installed in Orlando where the homeless are banned from sleeping on benches.

That’s just wrong.

8. In 1974, 80,000 lapel buttons created by the government to promote toy safety were recalled as their edges were too sharp.

Safety first guys. Safety first.

9. Condoms were given out at a Canadian university with notes attached promoting safe sex. These were later recalled because the staples used to fasten the note had punctured the condoms.

10. Barry Manilow’s 1976 hit ‘I Write The Songs’, was written by Bruce Johnson.

Bruce who?

11. Union General John Sedgwick was shot and killed moments after standing from his trench and telling his men to stand because Confederate soldiers ‘couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance’.

Shouldn’t talk smack about your opponent.

12. A man sued the Guinness Book of World Records for damages after they awarded him the world record for ‘Most Lawsuits Ever Filed ‘, at over $10,000.

I guess he broke his own world record when he sued the Guinness World Records?

13. Gunpowder was invented in the 9th Century by Chinese alchemists who were attempting to find an ‘elixir of immortality’.

Just like atomic energy is used for energy not bombs.

14. Otto Lilienthal, creator of the flying glider, died after a flight crash.

15. William Bullock, creator of the rotary printing press, died from injuries at the hands of his own machine.

The original version of this post can be found here.