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Sarcasm

by Don L. F. Nilsen

and Alleen Pace Nilsen

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The Onion

The Onion has a sarcastic slogan. It is:

“America’s Finest News Source.”

The Onion Web Site:

http://www.theonion.com

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Three Types of Irony or Sarcasm:

• More than 2,000 years ago, the Roman rhetorician Quintilian concluded that there three types of irony or sarcasm.

• These occur whenever the literal meaning of a statement does not fit with:– The delivery of the statement– The character of the speaker– Or the topic of the statement

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Ironic Insults:

• Ironic insults, where the positive literal meaning is subverted by the negative intended meaning, will be perceived to be more positive than direct insults, where the literal meaning is negative.

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Occupation, Gender and Social Class as Indicators of Sarcasm

Occupation, gender, and social class allow a person to predict how often a speaker will use sarcasm, and how often an audience will detect its usage.

For example, if the speaker is a priest the listener would not generally assume that sarcasm is being used.

But if the speaker is a comedian, the listener would general assume that sarcasm is being used.

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Gendered Sarcasm

Stacey Ivanko, Penny Pexman, and Kara Olineck say that men tend to use sarcasm more frequently than women do.

Also, men tend to use sarcasm in a self-protective manner to cover their insecurities.

But women tend to use self-deprecating sarcasm to show their own vulnerability, and to promote in-group intimacy.

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Sarcasm Web SitesSTEPHEN COLBERT (THE COLBERT REPORT):http://www.colbertnation.com/home

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM:http://www.hbo.com/curb-your-enthusiasm/index.html

THE F-WORD:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7-YptNv3KE

IGOODESMAN AND JOO:http://cartoonando.blogspot.com/2008/04/1000-posts.html

JIMMY KIMMELL:http://abc.go.com/latenight/jimmykimmel/index?pn=index

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DAVID LETTERMAN:http://www.cbs.com/late_night/late_show/

THE ONION (CAROL KOLB):http://www.theonion.com

PACHELBELL RANT:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM

SARCMARK:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlwCCWGYOGg

SOUTHPARK:

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/155394/?tab=featured