re: Is irony sneaking up on us?

Irony-the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
"“Don't go overboard with the adoration" Matty Ice rejoined with heavy irony"
synonyms: sarcasm, causticity, cynicism, mockery, satire, sardonicism.

Irony- a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result.
"the irony is that we paid Matty Ice big bucks because of his reputation for engineering last minute comebacks"

Irony-a literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character's words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character.

"The bigwigs at ABC pay big bucks to Aikman to be objective. The irony is that Aikman's hatred of the Saints always comes through when he is assigned to Saints games and those same clueless bigwigs can't hear it."