Verbal Irony Against an Antagonist

Abstract

Some verbal irony can be conceived as strategy to handle an antagonist. The decision to attack or to appease, as in the case of ironic euphemism, depends on the social context of the power relationship between the speaker and the intended target or potential antagonist. Thus, some verbal irony can be reconceived as subcategories of the basic metaphor "VERBAL IRONY IS STRATEGY IN HANDLING AN OPPONENT."