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I was writing in my Japanese study journal, and I realized that I don't really
know a good phrase for "...ironically, ..." Like so:

> Work as of late hasn't been busy. Ironically, even though I prefer to have a
> busy schedule, I just can't find enough to do.

To me, 嫌味｛いやみ｝and 皮肉｛ひにく｝seem to carry a little bit of a negative context with
them. I can make the sentence work with 逆｛ぎゃく｝に、but that doesn't really
capture that I think that the situation has a light-hearted kind of irony. Am
I wrong in thinking that there is another way to express this kind of light-
hearted irony?

Here's my translation:

> 最近、仕事はそんなに忙しくなかった。実は日々のスケジュールが忙しいなら楽だけど、逆に私のスケジュールはどうせいっぱいにならない。

Am I on the right track? Is there a better way for me to express that I think
this ironic?
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2017-06-09T16:55:09.383
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word-choice words word-requests
Expressing the irony of the situation
> ...楽だけど、 **不思議な真似に** 私のスケジュールは **いつも** どうせいっぱいにならない。

I'm not entirely sure a native will speak the same way though.
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2017-06-09T17:50:41.080
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There's something of a cultural gap at play here. Even after almost 20 years
living in Japan, I still find it different to convey light-hearted irony.

You're correct, however, in thinking that neither 嫌味 nor 皮肉 would be
appropriate.

If I were trying to express your English sentence in Japanese, I'd probably
say something along the lines of:

> 僕にとって、スケジュールが詰まってるほど忙しい方が良いのに、よりによって最近仕事があまり忙しくなくて、暇になっちゃってる。

Incidentally, if I were to keep your 「どうせ」, then I'd probably go with:

> どうせならスケジュールが詰まってるほど忙しい方が良いが、最近は仕事があまり忙しくなくて、暇になっちゃってる。

I'm not entirely certain of the extent to which either of the above conveys
the sense of irony you're looking for, but I think they're reasonably close to
what someone in your situation might say.
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2017-06-10T05:48:07.763
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As you said, I think 皮肉にも has a bit negative nuance and I can't think of the
appropriate word for a light-hearted kind of irony.

I translated your sentence as "最近仕事は忙しくないんだ。忙しく過ごしたいんだけど、(?)やることが見つからないんだ". I
can't think of (?).
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2017-06-10T06:26:45.600
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