Sarcasm: Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right. - Isaac Asimov - Sarcastic Quotes
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SarcasmDeriving from a Greek word meaning “to strip off the flesh,” sarcasm is caustic, cutting humor in the form of ironic praise, or speaking oppositely in order to wound.Sarcasm |
IronyComic irony is speaking with a veiled meaning or an intended meaning that is opposite to or different from your words, aka dry humor. Sarcasm is a form of comic irony.Irony |
SatireDescribed by literary theorist Northrop Frye as “militant irony,” satire is irony writ large, social criticism that may or may not use humor to make its point.Satire |
BanterA playfully clever or teasing conversation featuring spontaneous and usually rapid joking. Unlike sarcasm, banter is typically friendly and good humored.Banter |
CynicismThe Cynics, named for the Greek word for dog, were philosophers advocating virtue and self-sufficiency above all. Cynicism later came to mean jaded or scornfully negative.Cynicism |
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How To Recognize Irony
Quite often sarcasm is mistaken for irony; however, sarcasm is a form of irony which uses sharp wit to highlight the obviousness, stupidity, or annoyance-factor of a situation. One main difference between irony and sarcasm is that irony is generally observed and sarcasm is generally created (i.e. spoken, written). People don't usually go about actively pursuing the creation of irony. On the other hand, anyone who is relatively safe from being labeled stupid, and has availed themselves of the How To Be Sarcastic tutorial, can readily create sarcasm throughout their daily life. This interpretation may be lacking, but it serves to start us on a straightforward path to understanding what irony is.
Let us first understand what is what, before we move into more sophisticated territory.
Verbal Irony: Sarcasm - When the speaker says, "I appreciate your help.", when no help was provided to the speaker, makes that comment sarcastic. Hyperbole (overstatement) - "There was never anyone as educated.", in describing someone who is uneducated. Understatement - When the speaker says, "It was a bit cold.", when he has lost a leg due to frost bite.
Dramatic Irony: Dramatic irony is the result of the contrast between the understanding of a situation by the dramatic character and the audience. Basically, the audience understands the situation as it really is, where the character in the story is oblivious to the reality of things.
Per usual, it is not a bad idea to review the dictionary definition of a word. With that in mind, please study the definition of the word 'irony' as provided in the Webster dictionary, before moving on to the main portion of the tutorial. Just using the dictionary definition is probably not the best way to understand a word, but since we are only covering the basics, this definition of irony should do just fine.
Note: Only the definitions necessary for this tutorial are included
iro.ny - n. 3 a (1) : incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result (2) : an event or result marked by such incongruity...
Having wasted no time on basics, we will now move on to the next section in the irony tutorial.
Continued: What Is Irony?
Let us first understand what is what, before we move into more sophisticated territory.
Verbal Irony: Sarcasm - When the speaker says, "I appreciate your help.", when no help was provided to the speaker, makes that comment sarcastic. Hyperbole (overstatement) - "There was never anyone as educated.", in describing someone who is uneducated. Understatement - When the speaker says, "It was a bit cold.", when he has lost a leg due to frost bite.
Dramatic Irony: Dramatic irony is the result of the contrast between the understanding of a situation by the dramatic character and the audience. Basically, the audience understands the situation as it really is, where the character in the story is oblivious to the reality of things.
Per usual, it is not a bad idea to review the dictionary definition of a word. With that in mind, please study the definition of the word 'irony' as provided in the Webster dictionary, before moving on to the main portion of the tutorial. Just using the dictionary definition is probably not the best way to understand a word, but since we are only covering the basics, this definition of irony should do just fine.
Note: Only the definitions necessary for this tutorial are included
iro.ny - n. 3 a (1) : incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result (2) : an event or result marked by such incongruity...
Having wasted no time on basics, we will now move on to the next section in the irony tutorial.
Continued: What Is Irony?
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No, That's Not Ironic!
Once in a while (actually, it happens quite often) one runs across a coworker, acquaintance, or total stranger who uses words without knowing what they actually mean. For example, one time I had a supervisor who laughed at a coworker who was not familiar with the frescos of the Sistine Chapel. In breaking the news to this coworker, he said, "How can you not know what the Sixteenth Chapel is?". At first I couldn't believe my ears, but I composed myself, and tried to confirm what my ears had heard. So I asked him to repeat the name of the fresco. This time he deliberately pronounced each syllable slowly so that I could really learn; "It's the Sixteenth Chapel", he said.
Now what does the above story have to do with irony, you ask? Well, read the How to Recognize Irony tutorial to understand.
