One thing with irony is that it can become so automatic that you don't even notice it - and that's a problem with an international community like that, because back on the East side of the Atlantic, that tends to be how we talk.

All kinds of phrases like "I suppose you're proud of yourself" or "That was very clever of you" will almost invariably mean the opposite of what they seem to say. When you tell somene that something they did "Wasn't too bad", the chances are it means it was bloody good. And that example is one where you can either see it as irony or understatement.

It's not unlike that way of changing round the meaning of a word, that's prevalent among some Americans, so they say "bad" when they mean "good", and so forth. The difference is that here the word keeps its meaning, but is used ironicaly to mean the opposite. In America, as I understand it, the new meaning adds on to or replaces the old, and there is no ironic sense when it is used.

In both cases it can lead to misunderstanding on a site like this. As can other differences which we are always exploring. For example the word "mean" which still for us normally denotes being tight-fisted. (I'm never clear whether when Americans use the term "mean" with the sense hard/vicious/nasty, and apply it in a way that indicates approval, that is an ironic use or not.)

And the moral of all this is that if anyone ever says anhthing that looks like an insult, assume it's not meant that way until and unless it's been made crystal clear that that is what it is. If you make a mistake that way, what have you lost in unintentionally turning the other cheek? Whereas if you make the mistake the other way, and see an insult where one was not intended, at best you risk being seen to be a bit ridiculous, and at worst you are stirring up discord and turning friends into enemies.