Is "no good deed goes unpunished" used properly here?

[LeTyan]

Hi,

"The man who shot Travon Martin actually got released! Hmm...no good deed goes unpunished!"


Thanks!

 

[probus]

It's probably an irony. If it went unpunished it must not have been a good deed.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Hi,

"The man who shot Travon Martin actually got released! Hmm...no good deed goes unpunished!"


Thanks!

It is a very strange sentence.

 

[probus]

Yes. Hard to be sure what the speaker meant.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Yes. Hard to be sure what the speaker meant.

Indeed. It makes one suspect that the user did not understand the statement.

 

[Kelv]

Is it sarcastic to say no good deed goes unpunished ? The meaning is confusing.

 

[Raymott]

Is it sarcastic to say no good deed goes unpunished ? The meaning is confusing.

Yes, that bit is obviously ironic. But it doesn't seem to fit the context.
"Hmm...no good deed goes unrewarded!" is not ironic by itself, but it would be in the original context.
The two parts don't seem to fit together.

 

[JMurray]

not a teacher

"No good deed goes unpunished."

It's a wry comment on the unfairness of life. It means that even when we try to do good, our actions will often only lead us into trouble.
The remark is attributed to the writer and politician, Clare Boothe Luce.
Clare Boothe Luce - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

ps: I agree with Raymott that it doesn't seem to fit the context.

 

[LeTyan]

Thanks for all your replies. Maybe I should re-write it as "The man who shot Trayvon Martin actually got released. What's wrong with this world?"

 

[Raymott]

Thanks for all your replies. Maybe I should re-write it as "The man who shot Trayvon Martin actually got released. What's wrong with this world?"

That depends entirely on why you want to write it at all, and whether that would fit the wider context. What attitude do you want the speaker to take towards i) Trayvon Martin, ii) the man who shot him iii) the fact that the man shot him, and iv) that he was released. All those questions should be answered in the wider text. I get the impression, though, that the speaker approves of the man being released, in which case your phrase wouldn't work. It's more likely the author meant the ironic "No good deed goes unrewarded!" in my opinion.

 

[Rover_KE]

Here's the story of Trayvon Martin, which we should have had earlier, and here's an example of 'no good deed goes unpunished'.

So – no match.

 

[SoothingDave]

Here's the story of Trayvon Martin, which we should have had earlier, and here's an example of 'no good deed goes unpunished'.

So – no match.

It must be nice to live in a world where you have to look up "Trayvon Martin" to see what the fuss is all about. Suffice it to say that it is a racially-charged powder keg over here.

 

[Raymott]

It must be nice to live in a world where you have to look up "Trayvon Martin" to see what the fuss is all about. Suffice it to say that it is a racially-charged powder keg over here.

I remember reading about the event. I didn't remember the name (and why should I?), and it's not a powder keg in Australia.
But it's not really that nice. We have powder kegs in Australia, and there are racially-prejudiced shootings and atrocities happening all over the world. 65 people have been killed in Nairobi by miltant Islamists. Should kenyans know Trayvon Martin's name, and if not, does that imply they are living in a peachy paradise? Do you know the names of the Americans killed in Nairobi?

 

[SoothingDave]

I remember reading about the event. I didn't remember the name (and why should I?), and it's not a powder keg in Australia.
But it's not really that nice. We have powder kegs in Australia, and there are racially-prejudiced shootings and atrocities happening all over the world. 65 people have been killed in Nairobi by miltant Islamists. Should kenyans know Trayvon Martin's name, and if not, does that imply they are living in a peachy paradise? Do you know the names of the Americans killed in Nairobi?

I am sorry if I was misunderstood. I wasn't expecting everyone in the world to know American news. I was just wistfully wishing that I had not had to live through the turmoil of the past year. That's all.