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Так, сейчас посмотрим... Сегодня мы успели свалиться в пропасть, а затем ...

Here I'm not talking about "manage to do" in a positive sense (succeed), but rather its ironic use when you have made a blunder. I usually use "умудриться" in conversation, as in "я умудрился простыть", but I wasn't aware that "успеть" could be used ironically, too.

What verbs do native speakers commonly use for the ironic "manage(d) to do"? Are some of them better suited for ironic/sarcastic usage than others?

"умудриться" / "ухитриться" / "удаться" / "успеть" / "угораздить"

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    угораздило?.... Dec 21, 2018 at 18:09
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    @баянкупика: could you please make it an answer? Thanks!
    – Quassnoi
    Dec 21, 2018 at 18:53
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    @БаянКупи-ка As it turns out, what I had in mind was the reflexive "ухитриться" as well. Jan 1, 2019 at 4:59
  • oh yeah, i personally would rather use ухитриться in its direct meaning, for irony i prefer умудриться Jan 1, 2019 at 8:24
  • I wonder why you are trying to make good things better, but your language command level deserves much respect.
    – Elena
    Jan 1, 2019 at 18:16

2 Answers 2

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+50

Угораздило has slightly more noticeable connotation of some involuntary event, of something, that happened agains the will of the subject, like in phrase "Эк меня угораздило въехать в эту стену". Not necessarily one managed to do anything to and up in such situation :)

Ухитриться and умудриться are very closed synonyms but not not absolutely identical. Yet both ухитриться and умудриться are about being able to achieve something that was hardly expected to be achieved - or was not planned to be achieved at all, you can say "ну и я как-то ухитрился всё-таки подобрать код для входа в подъезд", but you can not say "ну и я умудрился как-то всё подобрать всё-таки код" - it will sound slightly off.

"Ухитрился" is still applicable for voluntary actions. One can intentionally try to do something and succeed. "Умудрился" is more about ending up in situation one were not willing to end up with at all. So how does it differ to "угораздило" then? Well, угораздило is more about unpleasant situation and умудрился is slightly more about unlikely situation. Угораздило попасть в пробку - is more like you didn't want to be in a traffic jam at all but well, shit happens. Умудрился попасть в пробку, - is more about like you never expected to stuck in traffic jam in this time of day, but somehow, you've managed.

Here's small plot to give you an idea:

enter image description here

All that said, all three words are still very closed synonyms. You gotta get used for them in everyday situations to learn when they can be used completely interchangeably and when one is tiny bit more preferable.

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  • Nice plot but it's missing the 'ironic' axis which was the point of the question. Jan 2, 2019 at 22:50
  • they all are quite ironical.
    – shabunc
    Jan 2, 2019 at 23:50
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We can ironically use anything, you know. But I like меня угораздило and я умудрилась(-лся) most of all.

Угораздило меня - it's the worst what can happen to you with your scarce participation. It expresses the utmost regret.

Я ухитрился - it can be either positive or negative

Я умудрился - the same as the previous phrase

Мне удалось and Я успел are the examples of using anything ironically, because they are mostly positive or neutral denoting just what they mean, but I like your context and choice of a phrase.

There are also idioms about the same situations, but I believe it's not the matter of your question.

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