Difference between revisions of "Sarcasm"
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| − | + | '''Sarcasm''' is, properly, the use of language to hurt the hearer's feelings ("a bitter gibe or taunt" - [[Lanham]]). So the footballer who cries "Good shot!" when his team-mate misses an open goal is not only [[ironic]], but '''sarcastic''' as well. So is the schoolboy who says to his companion, as the teacher catches them, "That was a really clever thing to do." But if the teacher says "You are idle, dishonest and incompetent" she is being '''sarcastic''' without being [[ironic]]. (Some teachers, of course, use irony mixed with sarcasm as their main disciplinary method.) | |
| − | '''Sarcasm''' is, properly, the use of language to hurt the | + | |
Sarcasm can be confused with both [[irony]] and [[satire]], not least because it often goes together with them. | Sarcasm can be confused with both [[irony]] and [[satire]], not least because it often goes together with them. | ||
Latest revision as of 11:07, 6 November 2017
This article is part of the Figures of Speech course. You may choose to follow it in a structured way, or read each item separately.
- Figures of comparison
- Figures of meaning
- bathos or anticlimax
- a descent, either disappointing or ludicrous
- circumlocution
- talking around the subject
- climax
- propositions or ideas rising in force
- hyperbole
- exaggeration
- irony
- words with a hidden meaning
- litotes
- using double negatives to make an understatement
- meiosis
- making an understatement
- oxymoron and paradox
- words that contradict each other
- pun
- a play upon words
- satire
- social or political comment through mockery or scorn
- sarcasm
- a bitter gibe or taunt
- Figures of construction
- Figures of sound patterning
- Miscellaneous Figures
Sarcasm is, properly, the use of language to hurt the hearer's feelings ("a bitter gibe or taunt" - Lanham). So the footballer who cries "Good shot!" when his team-mate misses an open goal is not only ironic, but sarcastic as well. So is the schoolboy who says to his companion, as the teacher catches them, "That was a really clever thing to do." But if the teacher says "You are idle, dishonest and incompetent" she is being sarcastic without being ironic. (Some teachers, of course, use irony mixed with sarcasm as their main disciplinary method.)
Sarcasm can be confused with both irony and satire, not least because it often goes together with them.
