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Irony

Posted by Bruce Kahl on November 14, 2007

In Reply to: Irony posted by R. Berg on November 13, 2007

: : : : What does the this mean when someone says it to another person... Don't do anything that I wouldn't do?

: : : It means "Behave yourself." The doings that the listener is to avoid are unspecified bad actions. Sometimes it's said ironically. ~rb

: : Isn't it usually said ironically? Pamela

: My experience with it isn't broad enough to say. It may be said without irony in old writings. ~rb

No irony at all.
I heard that phrase a lot growing up in the NYC area in the 50s and 60s.
Most of the time it was just a way of saying "take it easy".
My father amplified it a bit by saying "Don't do anything you can't take a picture of".

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