I've always liked a quote from the otherwise forgettable movie "Reality Bites":
Lelaina: Can you define "irony"? Troy Dyer: It's when the actual meaning is the complete opposite from the literal meaning.
Lelaina: Can you define "irony"? Troy Dyer: It's when the actual meaning is the complete opposite from the literal meaning.
For example, the character "Annyong" in Arrested Development is always saying "Annyong" (meaning, "hello") when another character says hello to him. Everyone else thinks he is just repeating his name, but he seems oblivious to this confusion. The irony is that his real name is "Hel-loh", but he does not seem to get the connection either. The misunderstanding of his name and its meaning causes an ironic comedy of errors. Arrested Development is full of these, as are most situational comedies.