Delivering sarcasmHow can I stop overusing “I” in my writing?

What is Cash Advance APR?

How can I block email signup overlays or javascript popups in Safari?

Why Shazam when there is already Superman?

Why can Carol Danvers change her suit colours in the first place?

It grows, but water kills it

Not using 's' for he/she/it

Why electric field inside a cavity of a non-conducting sphere not zero?

Are the IPv6 address space and IPv4 address space completely disjoint?

What is the evidence for the "tyranny of the majority problem" in a direct democracy context?

What does routing an IP address mean?

Count the occurrence of each unique word in the file

Removing files under particular conditions (number of files, file age)

dpdt switch to spst switch

Are paving bricks differently sized for sand bedding vs mortar bedding?

Symbol used to indicate indivisibility

lightning-datatable row number error

Can I sign legal documents with a smiley face?

Does an advisor owe his/her student anything? Will an advisor keep a PhD student only out of pity?

How to implement a feedback to keep the DC gain at zero for this conceptual passive filter?

How do you make your own symbol when Detexify fails?

Is it improper etiquette to ask your opponent what his/her rating is before the game?

Added a new user on Ubuntu, set password not working?

What if a revenant (monster) gains fire resistance?

What should you do if you miss a job interview (deliberately)?



Delivering sarcasm


How can I stop overusing “I” in my writing?













4















Most of us who have spent more than a few days reading things and interacting with people on the internet know how difficult it is to convey sarcasm. There is no tone there is only the words on our screens. Surely there is a way to express oneself in text in such a way that sarcasm is understood.



Here on Stack Exchange we have the use of markdown. We could put chunks of text in italics to distinguish it, but that seems less than ideal and markdown isn't available everywhere.



I've also used the <sarcasm></sarcasm> codeblock reference. But that is clunky and explicit. If you are going to be that up front you can also just say "This is sarcasm."



Then there is the simple fact that I have read plenty of sarcasm. Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams works are dripping with it. But I've never really determined why when they do it it is clear, but most others, myself included, seem to struggle with it. Is there a difference between sarcastic literature and people communicating on the internet?



What I am looking for are specific techniques for delivering sarcasm, in print, that are reasonably detectable by the average reader, as such.










share|improve this question



















  • 1





    +1, but I wonder if the question might not be too broad - if there's a significant difference between delivering sarcasm in literature, and delivering sarcasm in a short internet comment. Let's see, maybe that's something answers will address. (Worst case scenario - you might have to split this into two good questions.)

    – Galastel
    1 hour ago
















4















Most of us who have spent more than a few days reading things and interacting with people on the internet know how difficult it is to convey sarcasm. There is no tone there is only the words on our screens. Surely there is a way to express oneself in text in such a way that sarcasm is understood.



Here on Stack Exchange we have the use of markdown. We could put chunks of text in italics to distinguish it, but that seems less than ideal and markdown isn't available everywhere.



I've also used the <sarcasm></sarcasm> codeblock reference. But that is clunky and explicit. If you are going to be that up front you can also just say "This is sarcasm."



Then there is the simple fact that I have read plenty of sarcasm. Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams works are dripping with it. But I've never really determined why when they do it it is clear, but most others, myself included, seem to struggle with it. Is there a difference between sarcastic literature and people communicating on the internet?



What I am looking for are specific techniques for delivering sarcasm, in print, that are reasonably detectable by the average reader, as such.










share|improve this question



















  • 1





    +1, but I wonder if the question might not be too broad - if there's a significant difference between delivering sarcasm in literature, and delivering sarcasm in a short internet comment. Let's see, maybe that's something answers will address. (Worst case scenario - you might have to split this into two good questions.)

    – Galastel
    1 hour ago














4












4








4








Most of us who have spent more than a few days reading things and interacting with people on the internet know how difficult it is to convey sarcasm. There is no tone there is only the words on our screens. Surely there is a way to express oneself in text in such a way that sarcasm is understood.



Here on Stack Exchange we have the use of markdown. We could put chunks of text in italics to distinguish it, but that seems less than ideal and markdown isn't available everywhere.



I've also used the <sarcasm></sarcasm> codeblock reference. But that is clunky and explicit. If you are going to be that up front you can also just say "This is sarcasm."



Then there is the simple fact that I have read plenty of sarcasm. Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams works are dripping with it. But I've never really determined why when they do it it is clear, but most others, myself included, seem to struggle with it. Is there a difference between sarcastic literature and people communicating on the internet?



What I am looking for are specific techniques for delivering sarcasm, in print, that are reasonably detectable by the average reader, as such.










share|improve this question
















Most of us who have spent more than a few days reading things and interacting with people on the internet know how difficult it is to convey sarcasm. There is no tone there is only the words on our screens. Surely there is a way to express oneself in text in such a way that sarcasm is understood.



Here on Stack Exchange we have the use of markdown. We could put chunks of text in italics to distinguish it, but that seems less than ideal and markdown isn't available everywhere.



I've also used the <sarcasm></sarcasm> codeblock reference. But that is clunky and explicit. If you are going to be that up front you can also just say "This is sarcasm."



Then there is the simple fact that I have read plenty of sarcasm. Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams works are dripping with it. But I've never really determined why when they do it it is clear, but most others, myself included, seem to struggle with it. Is there a difference between sarcastic literature and people communicating on the internet?



What I am looking for are specific techniques for delivering sarcasm, in print, that are reasonably detectable by the average reader, as such.







style technique process showing-telling






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 1 hour ago







bruglesco

















asked 1 hour ago









bruglescobruglesco

2,115639




2,115639







  • 1





    +1, but I wonder if the question might not be too broad - if there's a significant difference between delivering sarcasm in literature, and delivering sarcasm in a short internet comment. Let's see, maybe that's something answers will address. (Worst case scenario - you might have to split this into two good questions.)

    – Galastel
    1 hour ago













  • 1





    +1, but I wonder if the question might not be too broad - if there's a significant difference between delivering sarcasm in literature, and delivering sarcasm in a short internet comment. Let's see, maybe that's something answers will address. (Worst case scenario - you might have to split this into two good questions.)

    – Galastel
    1 hour ago








1




1





+1, but I wonder if the question might not be too broad - if there's a significant difference between delivering sarcasm in literature, and delivering sarcasm in a short internet comment. Let's see, maybe that's something answers will address. (Worst case scenario - you might have to split this into two good questions.)

– Galastel
1 hour ago






+1, but I wonder if the question might not be too broad - if there's a significant difference between delivering sarcasm in literature, and delivering sarcasm in a short internet comment. Let's see, maybe that's something answers will address. (Worst case scenario - you might have to split this into two good questions.)

– Galastel
1 hour ago











1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















2














In novels you can parse sarcasm because you know the characters, specifically you know what they know and how they think, so you know the difference between a serious suggestion and a flip suggestion.



I've written a sarcastic retort by a character in one of my stories, and my first reader got it immediately; because the character was making a suggestion completely out of her personality. So it had to be sarcasm, and that's how it was read and it was found funny to get a laugh (even though the character was frustrated with the stubbornness of another character).



You cannot duplicate that in an internet post except with friends that get your personality. Absent that relationship, then in that venue, you need to make your sarcastic responses a bit over the top, so they seem outlandish enough to make the reader think twice about how serious you are being.



Either that, or include a rolling-eyes emoji, if possible.






share|improve this answer






















    Your Answer








    StackExchange.ready(function()
    var channelOptions =
    tags: "".split(" "),
    id: "166"
    ;
    initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

    StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
    // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
    if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
    StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
    createEditor();
    );

    else
    createEditor();

    );

    function createEditor()
    StackExchange.prepareEditor(
    heartbeatType: 'answer',
    autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
    convertImagesToLinks: false,
    noModals: true,
    showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
    reputationToPostImages: null,
    bindNavPrevention: true,
    postfix: "",
    imageUploader:
    brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
    contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
    allowUrls: true
    ,
    noCode: true, onDemand: true,
    discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
    ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
    );



    );













    draft saved

    draft discarded


















    StackExchange.ready(
    function ()
    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fwriting.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f43972%2fdelivering-sarcasm%23new-answer', 'question_page');

    );

    Post as a guest















    Required, but never shown

























    1 Answer
    1






    active

    oldest

    votes








    1 Answer
    1






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes









    2














    In novels you can parse sarcasm because you know the characters, specifically you know what they know and how they think, so you know the difference between a serious suggestion and a flip suggestion.



    I've written a sarcastic retort by a character in one of my stories, and my first reader got it immediately; because the character was making a suggestion completely out of her personality. So it had to be sarcasm, and that's how it was read and it was found funny to get a laugh (even though the character was frustrated with the stubbornness of another character).



    You cannot duplicate that in an internet post except with friends that get your personality. Absent that relationship, then in that venue, you need to make your sarcastic responses a bit over the top, so they seem outlandish enough to make the reader think twice about how serious you are being.



    Either that, or include a rolling-eyes emoji, if possible.






    share|improve this answer



























      2














      In novels you can parse sarcasm because you know the characters, specifically you know what they know and how they think, so you know the difference between a serious suggestion and a flip suggestion.



      I've written a sarcastic retort by a character in one of my stories, and my first reader got it immediately; because the character was making a suggestion completely out of her personality. So it had to be sarcasm, and that's how it was read and it was found funny to get a laugh (even though the character was frustrated with the stubbornness of another character).



      You cannot duplicate that in an internet post except with friends that get your personality. Absent that relationship, then in that venue, you need to make your sarcastic responses a bit over the top, so they seem outlandish enough to make the reader think twice about how serious you are being.



      Either that, or include a rolling-eyes emoji, if possible.






      share|improve this answer

























        2












        2








        2







        In novels you can parse sarcasm because you know the characters, specifically you know what they know and how they think, so you know the difference between a serious suggestion and a flip suggestion.



        I've written a sarcastic retort by a character in one of my stories, and my first reader got it immediately; because the character was making a suggestion completely out of her personality. So it had to be sarcasm, and that's how it was read and it was found funny to get a laugh (even though the character was frustrated with the stubbornness of another character).



        You cannot duplicate that in an internet post except with friends that get your personality. Absent that relationship, then in that venue, you need to make your sarcastic responses a bit over the top, so they seem outlandish enough to make the reader think twice about how serious you are being.



        Either that, or include a rolling-eyes emoji, if possible.






        share|improve this answer













        In novels you can parse sarcasm because you know the characters, specifically you know what they know and how they think, so you know the difference between a serious suggestion and a flip suggestion.



        I've written a sarcastic retort by a character in one of my stories, and my first reader got it immediately; because the character was making a suggestion completely out of her personality. So it had to be sarcasm, and that's how it was read and it was found funny to get a laugh (even though the character was frustrated with the stubbornness of another character).



        You cannot duplicate that in an internet post except with friends that get your personality. Absent that relationship, then in that venue, you need to make your sarcastic responses a bit over the top, so they seem outlandish enough to make the reader think twice about how serious you are being.



        Either that, or include a rolling-eyes emoji, if possible.







        share|improve this answer












        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer










        answered 45 mins ago









        AmadeusAmadeus

        56k471183




        56k471183



























            draft saved

            draft discarded
















































            Thanks for contributing an answer to Writing Stack Exchange!


            • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

            But avoid


            • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

            • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.

            To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




            draft saved


            draft discarded














            StackExchange.ready(
            function ()
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fwriting.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f43972%2fdelivering-sarcasm%23new-answer', 'question_page');

            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown





















































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown

































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown







            Popular posts from this blog

            Lioubotyn Sommaire Géographie | Histoire | Population | Notes et références | Liens externes | Menu de navigationlubotin.kharkov.uamodifier« Recensements et estimations de la population depuis 1897 »« Office des statistiques d'Ukraine : population au 1er janvier 2010, 2011 et 2012 »« Office des statistiques d'Ukraine : population au 1er janvier 2011, 2012 et 2013 »Informations officiellesCartes topographiquesCarte routièrem

            Isabella Eugénie Boyer Biographie | Références | Menu de navigationmodifiermodifier le codeComparator to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar Amount – 1774 to Present.

            Mpande kaSenzangakhona Biographie | Références | Menu de navigationmodifierMpande kaSenzangakhonavoir la liste des auteursm