The text today is irony, from the Greek for dissimulation, as I learn from J. R. Cuddon's marvelous book (more about that anon), from which I quote the following, enough for an initial definition. "For the Roman theoreticians (in particular Cicero and Quintilian) 'ironic' denoted a rhetorical figure and a manner of discourse in which . . . the meaning was contrary to the words, the double-edgedness appearing to be a …
SOURCE: John Simon at 02:06AM on October 2, 2018