Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

Funny photo, gregmulvihill. Welcome to the forum. If that car (model unrecognizable in the photo) is a Plymouth Arrow or Dodge Dart, I can't tell, but if so that would indeed seem like "irony" to me, as Ron Draney suggests. Likewise if it was a model named "Bullet" or "Impact" or "Projectile" ... but I don't think those car model names exist. Otherwise it's just a "humorous coincidence" which is close to but not the same as true irony.

"Irony" is usually described as a result contrary to what is intended, expected, or implied. Take a look at this collection of the Top 20 Ironic Photos found online, and the distinction may become more clear.

A few of those 20 images I'd quibble with as being ironic, like the "no photos of the photos" photo ... that's more a self-referential joke. There's a fine line between "humorous coincidence" and "irony" but that's the norm with any attempt to classify or categorize the meanings of words.

Ultimately, the meaning of irony has to go back to the classic Greek, where it was used thusly:

Irony (noun): A literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character's words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character.

Current definitions recognize that the usage has evolved to include:

Irony (noun): A state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result.

So that's how I based my answer to your question. Certainly the collision with the Target sign was not intended by the driver, but the CEO of Target might consider it to be ironic. Either way, it would fit the "event with amusing results" part of the definition. Some definitions of "ambiguity" and "paradox" also come close to that meaning, but there's still some subtle distinctions between the various terms.