For Your Information if You are Interested. About Sarcasm...

[ChristineM]

As I hope some of you have noticed, lately I've ramped up the proportion of my posts that are sarcastic. This has brought to my notice how often, and apparently how easily, we fail to pick up these days on the fact that a post by any one of us is intended to be understood as sarcasm.

I have my own thoughts about why that seems to me to happen so much more often today than it did years ago. I'm thinking maybe our age is one in which so much absurdity is thrown at us as Gospel truth, we are all of us to one extent or another begun to take everything, from any source, as an attempt to make us swallow nonsense.

So that raises to my mind the question of what, if anything, I should do to increase the odds that my sarcastic posts are understood to be sarcasm, rather than just one more tedious attempt by this or that person to fob off crap as truth.

I'm not sure how I will answer that question going forward after having substantially more time to learn and think about it, but if anyone is interested in what to expect from me for the foreseeable future, then here it is: I am for now going to continue on as I have been doing, which is to try to signal when a post of mine is meant to be taken as sarcasm, mostly by putting forward as 'the truth' the most outlandish, improbable, and genuinely absurd ideas I can think of in hope that their ridiculousness will be a flag that is easily recognizable as sarcasm.

Having said that, please let me make this clear. I feel no actual obligation or duty to anyone but myself for what I do here. The only exceptions to that might be extraordinary ones, along the lines of yelling 'fire' in a crowded theater with a very high bar set for what that might mean in practice.

Now, anyone who finds my position on this intolerable has a ready recourse open to them. Stop reading my posts. Beyond that, if someone is in denial of my right to set my own standards here, then so far as I am concerned, they have removed themselves altogether from the conversation because they aren't even reading the same book as me, let alone us both being on the same page. i.e. I'm most likely to simply ignore them, just as I would encourage them to ignore me.

I wish I felt I had no need to spell things out. I've never felt such a need in the past. But I guess we're living in a different age for now.

Last, there's nothing in all that I have said I believe is worth my time debating. Were I to politely tell you otherwise, I would be lying to myself to say it.

Thanks for your attention.

Sarcasm is a wonderful tool, no need to identify it as such, if the reader (or listener) doesn't get it then that's an extra 2 points

 

[Gargovic Malkav]

If anyone can't handle sarcasm, then why on earth are you on a forum with people communicating..?

Why not go exercise, or play checkers so you can be safe from sarcastic people?

You should read or re-read the book of proverbs in the Bible. It might help you understand why people like me are making such a big deal out of it.

 

[Cooky]

You should read or re-read the book of proverbs in the Bible. It might help you understand why people like me are making such a big deal out of it.

What..!?!?!

Are you suggesting that sarcasm is a sin?
If so, I'm thankful I'm not a member of your congregation.

 

[Gargovic Malkav]

What..!?!?!

Are you suggesting that sarcasm is a sin?

People who make fun of others can't stand criticism themselves.
You decide whether I make sense or not.

 

[Heyo]

...Key is, if it's too ridiculous to be true, then ignore it on account if it probably being fake.

Fact is, no matter how hard you try to poe, there is someone who will take you seriously - and someone who really has that opinion.
Context is king here. You have to know the person who is using sarcasm to decide if the claim is really ridiculous. (Trust me, I got warnings for giving out "Funny" frubes. Turned out it was meant to be taken serious.)