What is the meaning of The irony is not lost on me here:
The more regularly you learn to code, the more likely it is that you’ll start seeing your ripped coding muscles. (The irony is not lost on me).
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If you google the expression, you will find a dozen or more sites that explain its meaning.– Ronald SoleCommented Nov 10, 2022 at 11:21
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It's an affected / literary / pretentious "fixed idiom" that simply means I am aware of the irony (it didn't pass me by; I didn't fail to spot it).– FumbleFingersCommented Nov 10, 2022 at 11:23
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1...I must admit I'm not entirely certain what the speaker is getting at, though. But I'm guessing speaker is a coding nerd himself - who ironically doesn't have real "ripped muscles" (because he's the archetypal "9-stone weakling" who gets sand kicked in his face by muscular bullies on the beach! :) But perhaps he's speaking ironically while trying to persuade his body-builder friend to take up computer programming as a hobby!– FumbleFingersCommented Nov 10, 2022 at 11:29
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I don't see any possibility of irony there. Maybe more context (some previous sentences) would explain it.– Jack O'FlahertyCommented Nov 10, 2022 at 12:19
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It may be related to the recent "meme" about a muscular guy who does a pushup every time some event occurs. Here the guy with the ripped muscles may be saying "every time I code a line , I do a pushup" [[ knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-do-one-push-up ]]– PremCommented Nov 10, 2022 at 16:05
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2 Answers
"The {something} is not lost on me" is a fixed expression (an idiom) meaning that "I am aware of the {something}."
Understanding what is ironic requires you to speculate on the intention of the writer.
I understand the irony here is that the writer uses a metaphor "if you code regularly, you will develop coding muscles". I understand the writer means "but my real muscles are small and weak." It is ironic that the writer has developed "coding muscles" but not "real muscles". Or that the writer is using a physical fitness metaphor, even though they are not physically fit.
The speaker indicates that they are aware of this irony.
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Yes, but it can be any number of things that is not lost on one. The comic aspect of the situation is not lost on me. For example.– LambieCommented Nov 10, 2022 at 21:01
Normally, the following statement would be intended ironically
The truly stupid are always correct
It might mean in one context that the stupid are often incorrect, or in another context that it is foolish to call someone who is frequently correct stupid, or in a third context that the truly stupid never even recognize when they have been incorrect. The point is that the intended meaning intentionally contradicts in some way the expressed meaning. Saying the opposite of what is intended is irony.
The standardized phrase
The irony is not lost on me that X
means that X may sound like irony, but is, least primarily, intended as non-ironical.
The passage quoted starts from a stereotype that those who are interested in mental pursuits such as computer coding are physically unfit. It then relies on some modern American slang: highly developed muscles are “ripped.” (Don’t ask me how that usage developed.)
So what the quoted passage means is that if you write code regularly, you will likely get good at it. Like many other writers, this one felt that the best way to express a truism is to decorate it with verbiage. The writer means the truism, but expresses it in a way that superficially sounds ironical.
