He trips, falls, and face-plants into the cake.

他滑了一跤、跌倒了，還一頭栽進蛋糕裡。

Your friend doubles over with laughter and says, "It's so ridiculous! So ironic!"

你的朋友笑彎了腰說道：「這實在太可笑了！多諷刺啊！」

Well, quick, what do you do?

好了，這時候你會做什麼呢？

Do you laugh along with the laugh track and let this grievous misinterpretation of irony go?

你會就這樣忽略這個嚴重對「諷刺」的誤解，然後跟著你的朋友大笑嗎？

Or, do you throw caution to the wind and explain the true meaning of irony?

還是，你會先把禮數放一邊然後好好解說「諷刺」真正的含義呢？

If you were me, you choose the latter.

如果你是我，你就會選擇後者。

Unfortunately, irony has been completely misunderstood.

很不幸的，「諷刺」一直被完全誤解了。

We tend to throw out that term whenever we see something funny or coincidental.

我們往往把它用在任何我們認為好笑，或是湊巧的情況。

And while many examples of true irony can be funny, that is not the driving factor of being ironic.

雖然很多諷刺的例子是好笑的，但這並非取決諷刺的關鍵。

A situation is only ironic if what happens is the exact opposite of what was expected.

唯有在發生的事和預料的完全相反的情況才叫「諷刺」。

If you expect A, but get B, then you have irony.

如果你預期的是 Ａ 卻得到 Ｂ，那就是 「諷刺」。

Let's take the slap-stick cake situation as an example.

再回頭看看剛剛的蛋糕例子吧。

When someone walks in precariously balancing something that shouldn't be carried alone, trips, falls, and makes a mess, it is funny, but it's not ironic.

當有個人搖搖晃晃的扛著一個他不該獨自拿的東西，滑了一跤，跌得一踏糊塗，這很好笑但不諷刺。

In fact, you probably expect someone who is single-handedly carrying a huge cake to trip.

事實上，你大概預料得到一個單手拿著大蛋糕的人會跌倒。

When he does, reality align with expectations, and so that is not irony.

當他真的跌倒了，預期和現實相符，所以這不是「諷刺」。

But what if the sassy sidekick walked in wearing a gold medal that he'd won at the cake walking event at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996?

但要是這個人走進來的時候，戴著他在 1996 年亞特蘭大奧運扛蛋糕比賽贏的金牌呢？

What if that sidekick was a professional cake carrier?

又或者他是一位專業的蛋糕送貨員呢？

Then, maybe there would have been a reasonable expectation that he would have been more skilled when carrying a ridiculously large cake.

如果這樣，我們就會合理預期當他扛著一個嚇死人的大蛋糕時，會更加游刃有餘。

Then, when that reasonable expectation was not met by the tripping sidekick, irony would have been exemplified.

那麼，當這個預期沒有成真的時候，「諷刺」就出現了。

Another example, a senior citizen texting and blogging.

再舉一個例子，一位長輩正傳著簡訊和寫著部落格。

The common and reasonable expectation of more mature men and women is that they don't like or know technology, that they have a hard time turning on a computer, or that they have the old brick cell phones from the 1980s.

一般我們會預期比較呃....「成熟」的人們不喜歡，或不了解科技。開電腦對他們來說很困難，或是還在用 80 年代的黑金剛。

One should not expect them to be connected, high-tech, or savvy enough to text or to be blogging, which must seem like some sort of newfangled thing that "back in my day," they never had.

而不會預期他們十分 Ｅ 化 、高科技，或是厲害到能傳簡訊、寫部落格。因為這些玩意對他們來說一定太新奇，也不會出現在他們「想當年...」的談話中。

So when Granny pulls out her smart phone to post pictures of her dentures or her grandkids, irony ensues.

因此，當老奶奶拿出智慧型手機發佈她假牙，或是孫子們的照片時，「諷刺」就出現了。

Reasonable expectations of the situation are not met.

合理的期待和當下情況不符。

That is irony.

這就是 「諷刺」。

So while the cake dropper might not be ironic, there are all kinds of situations in life that are.

因此，雖然那個搞砸蛋糕的人不諷刺，生活中還是有各式各樣的諷刺情況。

Go out, and find those true examples of irony.

起身去發現這些真正諷刺的實例吧！