Which literary technique is Austen using in mrs. dash wood reference to "wit" in the excerpt

The answer is verbal irony. Verbal Irony is when words express something in spite of truth or somebody says the opposite they truly feel or mean. Verbal incongruity is frequently snide. Incongruity in which a man says or keeps in touch with a certain something and means another, or utilizes words to pass on an implying that is the inverse of the strict significance. Cases from the Web for verbal incongruity. The verbal incongruity in the story would have played well in the primary century.