по иронии судьбы

• ИРОНИЯ СУДЬБЫ{{}}

[NP; fixed WO];

=====

⇒ often ПО ИРОНИИ СУДЬБЫ [PrepP; Invar; adv] a strange, absurd occurrence:

- quirk (twist) of fate;

- irony of fate.

     ♦ По иронии судьбы или даже самого председателя профкома Платон Самсонович был отправлен в горный санаторий имени бывшего Козлотура (Искандер 6). Whether due to a quirk of fate or to some quirk of the committee chairman, Platon Samsonovich was sent off to a mountain health resort which until very recently had been named in honor of the goatibex (6a).

     ♦ По иронии судьбы он очутился в камере с белобородым дедушкой, известным работником охранки... (Мандельштам 2). By an irony of fate he had found himself sharing a cell with a white-bearded old man who had once been a well-known Okhrana official... (2a).