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[–] Rottcodd ago 

I have no particular issue with the drift regarding the word "irony." In fact, I've written here before about my opinion on language drift - in brief, it happens, and that's just the way it is. The exact intent of language is to communicate ideas, so the only valid measure of the meaning of a word is the meaning the user intends and the meaning the audience takes away from it. If those two meanings correspond, then the word has been used as "correctly" as it ever needs to be, and the opinion of any third party is utterly irrelevant. And specifically regarding "irony" - its modern usage refers to a particular idea, and one for which there really isn't another term that's as suitable. If, for instance, your OP had been a raging screed about the stupid people who misspell words, I might've pointed out the "irony" of the fact that you misspelled "it's" (the possessive form doesn't have an apostrophe). First, there's no other term that communicates that idea quite as well, and second, had I said that, those who read it would've known exactly what it was that I meant, so the word would've been used "correctly" by any measure that actually matters.

That said, I've taken to using the phrase "unintentional irony" to differentiate the more modern conception of "irony" from the traditional, literary style usage. It should be noted though that I don't do that in the interest of precision, since I'm certain that the audience would grasp my meaning without the word "unintentional." I do that in order to avoid pointless arguments with third parties who are wrongly convinced that their opinions are relevant.

"Their" and "They're," on the other hand, is just a mistake. It's not that people are consciously using one or the other in order to attempt to communicate some specific idea - they're just not clear on which one is which (or, arguably more likely, simply using the wrong one inadvertently - I've even caught myself doing that from time to time).

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[–] SteelKidney [S] ago 

I might've pointed out the "irony" of the fact that you misspelled "it's"

Stupid Autocorrect. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I get what you're saying about communication not necessarily being tied to original meanings. First time my daughter used "throwing shade" I knew what she meant. And it's actually a more elegant way of describing a fairly subtle form of communication.