EN
The article considers the language means of irony used by George Y. Shevelov in his triptych “That's How We Were Taught the Right Sort of Speaking”, mostly in his polemics with Soviet language scholars. Thus, it was shown that, according to R. Barthes, the author positions himself as an acratic language personality opposed to the encratic discourse of Soviet Ukrainian official linguistics. So, on the level of language, he operates key nomina- tive units, checking their relevance and validity and deconstructing false ideas on the cogniti- ve level. The most important concepts actualized in ironic contexts are pointed out. Precedent phenomena used in ironic contexts and in creation of individual discourse in general are analyzed; their diversity and pragmatic significance are shown.