Irony

Irony ( iro·ny )

Pronunciation: \ˈī-rə-nē also ˈī(-ə)r-nē\

Function: noun

Etymology: Latin ironia, from Greek eirōnia, from eirōn dissembler

1: a pretense of ignorance and of willingness to learn from another assumed in order to make the other's false conceptions conspicuous by adroit questioning —called also Socratic irony

2 a: the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning b: a usually humorous or sardonic literary style or form characterized by irony c: an ironic expression or utterance

3 a (1): incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result (2): an event or result marked by such incongruity b: incongruity between a situation developed in a drama and the accompanying words or actions that is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play —called also dramatic irony tragic irony

Rapist asks for death, fears rape in prison

A Seattle man who'd admitted to raping two women at Myrtle Edwards Park was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday.

Earlier this year, Angel Galvan-Hernandez pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree rape in the separate August 2007 attacks at the waterfront park.

In both attacks, Galvan-Hernandez, 26, was accused of beating and choking his victims as he forced himself on them.

Speaking in King County Superior Court, Galvan-Hernandez pleaded with Judge Julie Spector to have him executed rather than send him to prison.

In a turn characterized by Spector, without humor, as "ironic," Galvan-Hernandez begged not to be sent to prison where he believes he will be raped.

"I prefer death a thousand times over being raped," said Galvan-Hernandez.

A tiny man less than 5 feet in height, Galvan-Hernandez told the court he'd been sexually assaulted numerous times as a street youth in Mexico.

"I want to pay for the act of cowardice," he added. "I admit it, but I just don't want to be raped.