What is the difference between parody, satire and irony?
Irony is probably one of the great misused words of our generation. In its pure form it requires the speaker to say one thing and mean another, and also requires at least one person present to believe that the speaker means what he says and at least one who knows otherwise. “Irony is a form of utterance that postulates a double audience, consisting of one party that hearing shall hear and shall not understand, and another party that, when more is meant than meets the ear, is aware both of that more and of the outsiders’ incomprehension.” — Fowler’s Modern English Usage. Parody is imitation of the written or spoken words of another for the purpose of ridicule. Satire is a humorous artistic expression (such as a novel or essay) intended to attack folly, stupidity or vice. It can employ a number of types of humor, including sarcasm, irony and wit.
