IRONY - A figure of speech in which the actual intent is expressed in words which carry the opposite meaning. Irony is often confused with sarcasm but it differs from sarcasm in that it is usually lighter, less in its wording though in effect probably more cutting because of its indirectness. It bears, too, a relationship with innuendo. The ability to recognize irony is one of the surest tests of intelligence and sophistication.
Jonathan Swift is a great ironist; his "Modest Proposal" for saving a starving Ireland by suggesting that the Irish sell their babies to the English landords is probably the most supreme example of savage irony in the English language.
From A Handbook to Literature by Thrall, Hibbard, and Holman
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