Alanis Morissette's 'Ironic' is Now Finally Ironic

Irony is a notoriously misused concept, and singer Alanis Morissette is no exception.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "irony" as "the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning."

Morissette's 1996 hit "Ironic" features a list of so-called ironies, few of which actually fit the word's meaning. She sings, "It's like rain on your wedding day," and "a traffic jam on a day when you're already late," but neither of those examples are ironic. In order for the lyrics to work, there have to be surprising twists to give unexpected results