Look up sarcasm in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Sarcasm is the rhetorical device of using a characterization of something or someone in order to express contempt.^[1] It is closely connected with irony, in that the two are often combined in the same statement.

Contents 1 Origin of the term 2 Usage 3 Sarcasm mark 4 Vocal indication 5 References 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] Origin of the term

It is first recorded in English in The Shepheardes Calender in 1579:

Tom piper) An Ironical [Sarcasmus], spoken in derision of these rude wits, which make more account of a rhyming Rimbaud, then of skill grounded upon learning and judgment.

—Edmund Spenser^[1]

It comes from the ancient Greek σαρκάζω (sarkazo) meaning 'to tear flesh' but the ancient Greek word for the rhetorical concept of taunting was instead χλευασμός (chleyasmόs). Sarcasm appears several times in the Old Testament, for example:

Lo, you see the man is mad; why then have you brought him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence?

—Achish, king of Gath, I Sam 21:10-15^[2]

[edit] Usage

Hostile, critical comments may be expressed in an ironic way such as saying "don't work too hard" to a lazy worker. The use of irony introduces an element of humour which may make the criticism seem more polite and less aggressive, but understanding the subtlety of this usage requires second-order interpretation of the speaker's intentions. This sophisticated understanding is lacking in some people with brain damage, dementia and autism,^[3] and this perception has been located by MRI in the right parahippocampal gyrus.^[4][5]

[edit] Sarcasm mark

In certain Ethiopic languages, sarcasm and unreal phrases are indicated at the end of a sentence with a sarcasm mark called temherte slaq, a character that looks like the inverted exclamation point ¡.^[6] This usage is similar to Alcanter de Brahm's proposed irony mark ؟, a reversed question mark. Subtitles, such as in Teletext, sometimes use an exclamation mark in brackets to mark sarcasm: [!].

It is common in online conversation to use a pseudo-HTML element: <sarcasm>Yeah, that's really going to work.</sarcasm>^[7].

A "rolling eyes" emoticon is often used as well, particularly in instant messaging.

Karl Marx uses the exclamation mark in brackets repeatedly throughout Das Kapital Volume 1. For example, in one instance, to ridicule Colonel Torrens: 'The problem is in no way simplified if extraneous matters are smuggled in, as with Colonel Torrens: "effectual demand consists in the power and inclination [!], on the part of the consumers, to give for commodities, either by immediate or circuitous barter..."'.^[8]

[edit] Vocal indication

In English sarcasm is indicated from sincere speech by lowering fundamental frequency and speaking with a slower speech rate. In Cantonese however sarcasm is indicated by raising the fundamental frequency of one's voice.^[9]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Sardonicism

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sarcasm

• BBC News Magazine - The rules of sarcasm
• Introducing the Sarcasm mark from Slate