Sarcasm mark
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A sarcasm mark, also called a sarcasm point, helps the reader identify certain messages as being derogatory or ironic. Although a sarcasm mark exists in the Ethiopic languages, at least in American English it is a non-standard, albeit desirable, form of punctuation. If accepted, it would serve a similar purpose to the French Irony Mark in helping the reader to identify and interpret specific types of non-literal language.
Several solutions have been suggested and implemented, most often in the highly informal context of electronic communication (e.g., email, chat rooms and blogs). Traditionally, sarcasm has been communicated implicitly through vocal intonation in oral language and through context in written communication. In the relatively unregulated context of electronic communication, sarcasm has become one of the most prevalent methods of expressing dissatisfaction, and one of the most prevalent forms of humor. Because of the ambiguous nature of sarcastic language, and the concomitant misunderstandings engendered by its use, various people have suggested or enacted solutions to the problem of ensuring that ambiguous language is understood in the way intended.
| Punctuation |
|---|
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apostrophe ( ', ’ ) |
| Interword separation |
|
spaces ( ) ( ) ( ) |
| General typography |
|
ampersand ( & ) |
| Uncommon typography |
|
asterism ( ⁂ ) |
[edit] Examples
Among the solutions adopted by various internet subcultures are:
- The Snark, a ligature of the full stop and tilde (~) was proposed to other type designers and typographers at http://www.typophile.com, for signifying all sorts of irony, including verbal irony, such as sarcasm.
Oh really?.~ - The inverted exclamation point (¡), probably adapted from the Ethiopic punctuation mark, by Josh Greenman at slate.com:
Oh really?¡ - Many phpBB/vBulletin-based forums use faux-BBCode tags: [sarcasm]sarcastic words[/sarcasm]. For a short time, working sarcasm tags were implemented on the Something Awful Forums. The text of a
sarcasmelement would be displayed boldfaced and dark red:
Oh really? - The wink, ;), and smile, :), emoticons have also been utilized informally, as
Oh really? ;) - In most closed captioning, sarcasm is shown with an exclamation mark or question mark in brackets, at the end of the sentence:
Oh really(?) - Among some internet chatrooms, online messaging networks and forums (most notably Slashdot), sarcasm HTML tags have been adopted, as in
<sarcasm>Oh really?</sarcasm>
A common variation is for only the closing tag, or an abbreviation of it ("/sarc") to be used.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
Liloia: “The Sarcasm Mark,” August 08, 2001.
DPB: Origin of % mark January 31, 2003.
Greenman: “A Giant Step Forward for Punctuation¡” December 01, 2004.
Furious: “Punctuational Proposal,” April 29, 2006.
