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What is the plural of 'sarcasm'?
Sarcasm is what we refer to as a noncount noun ("a noun that denotes a homogeneous substance or a concept without subdivisions and that in English is preceded in indefinite singular constructions by some rather than a or an"), and has no plural form.
Is 'sarcasm' the same as 'irony'?
Sarcasm refers to the use of words that mean the opposite of what you really want to say, especially in order to insult someone, or to show irritation, or just to be funny. For example, saying "they're really on top of things" to describe a group of people who are very disorganized is using sarcasm. Most often, sarcasm is biting, and intended to cause pain. Irony can also refer to the use of words that mean the opposite of what you really want to say; the "they're really on top of things" statement about the very disorganized group of people can also be described as an ironic statement. But irony can also refer to a situation that is strange or funny because things happen in a way that seems to be the opposite of what you expected; for example, it is ironic if someone who was raised by professional musicians but who wanted a very different kind of life then fell in love with and married a professional musician.
What are some synonyms for 'sarcasm'?
Sarcasm shares some semantic territory with a number of other English words, including wit, repartee, and humor. While most of these are in some way concerned with inducing laughter, sarcasm stands alone in denoting caustic language that is designed to cut or give pain.
I'm really new to reddit and my friends keep on saying "/s" after I say something. I'm really lost as to what this means. Thanks.
Be explicit. By Poe's law, if you aren't explicit, it won't work.
Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is utterly impossible to parody [any view] in such a way that someone won't mistake for the genuine article.
If you're really worried about it being unclear, just stick an
</s>at the end of whatever you said. Or say outright "(just kidding)" or similar. There's an entire Wikipedia article on irony punctuation:It is common in online conversation among some Internet users to use an XML closing tag:
</sarcasm>. The tag is often written only after the sarcasm so as to momentarily trick the reader before admitting the joke. Over time, it has evolved to lose the angle brackets (/sarcasm) and has subsequently been shortened to/sarcor/s.In my experience (mostly on Stack Exchange), the most commonly seen nowadays is
</s>. See e.g. Urban Dictionary and Internet Slang.If you're less worried but still want to add some sort of indicator, try
:-Por;-). (Noses are optional.)
A convention for indicating sarcasm online tends is to end your sarcastic comment with /s.
For example:
Of course everybody in the world loves having their teeth pulled out. /s
https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/1z46jc/what_does_thread_mean/cfqkmva/
To add to that: Originally, in the good old forum days, it'd be spelled out "
</thread>", like a HTML end tag. Over time it dropped the angle brackets.The same with "
</sarcasm>", which over time became "/sarcasm" and (as /u/LOOK_AT_MY_ALL_CAPS points out) eventually becoming just "/s".
I communicate a lot online, especially in chatrooms - often on Stack Exchange chat itself, or Discord, or similar platforms, and have been using these platforms to communicate for years. I'm often sarcastic - I like incorporating sarcasm into my communication, and it doesn't help that I like to at times provide "comic relief" of sorts. I'm used to people assuming that what I'm saying is sarcasm, because a lot of the time, it is.
A good way that I've found to differentiate between when you're being sarcastic and when not is to incorporate a specific writing style for being sarcastic, and a different one for being serious. This happened rather naturally for me, simply as a result of being misunderstood a bit too often - it sort of developed as a defense mechanism.
If I'm being sarcastic, I'll often trail off sentences with an ellipsis at the end, and in general adopt a dry, familiar tone. Emphasis on words like "much better" also helps with replicating normal tones for speaking sarcastically. Throwing in emojis like ";)" are also commonplace. Speaking in absolutes also often gives a sarcastic tone.
Compare:
Sure... ;)
Yeah, it would've been much better if they'd have killed her off at the end...
vs
Sure.
Seriously, it would've been better if they had killed her off at the end - it would've resolved the storyline with this guy, and given some resolution to the character.
When I'm not being sarcastic, my tone gets less dry. I sound more like I mean what I'm saying. Drop the emojis. Drop the ellipsis at the end. Sound more "serious". Flesh out what you're saying. For extra benefit, throw on a "seriously" at the beginning, especially if you're switching from being joking / sarcastic to being serious, or use another similar method ("on a more serious note", "to be serious for a sec", etc).
What you wrote - "I agree. Especially if your anime were going to be filler-ridden anyway" - has several things in it that make it sound like you're being sarcastic.
First off, you wrote "I agree". That immediately sounds sarcastic. (I'm not even sure why, but it does. It for some reason immediately gives me the impress that you're not being serious.) If I were you, I'd've thrown on a "seriously" at the beginning.
Second, you're degrading the thing you're talking about, in a way. "filler-ridden" gives the impression that you're being sarcastic because you're putting it down without explaining what you mean, or giving your reasoning.
If I were in your position, I would have gone for something more like this.
Seriously, I agree. It already has lots of filler in it, which is Toei's specialty, so it would actually be a good idea.
While there's still the possibility of this being misinterpreted as being sarcastic, from my experience this will be much less likely now that you're explaining your reasoning, and leading with something ("seriously") that should explicitly tell them that you're not being sarcastic.
While there's no sureproof way to make sure that you're never taken sarcastically when you're not, in my experience, the best way is to adopt a certain way that you use to communicate in each instance, and avoid using communication methods that are usually seen as sarcastic when you're being serious. This will work best with people who you communicate with often and have learned your style of communication, but I've had success in using my two methods of communication even with people who I am not in regular contact with.
As an aside, cultural and language barriers often play an often underestimated role when it comes to sarcasm and communication on the internet. People who don't speak English as a first language often have a hard time picking up on the subtleties that come into play in English, and people who do speak English as a first language sometimes read stuff into other people's messages that the person who wrote the message didn't mean at all. Other cultural considerations, such as not generally using sarcasm at all, can also have an impact on understanding. It's something to keep in mind. Always be ready to explain yourself, and don't be too quick to jump to conclusions, especially if the other person isn't a native speaker.
I replied that "I agree. Especially if your anime were going to be filler-ridden anyway". I actually agree that Toei should have made it because they know how to make an anime with filler bearable or even good, not sarcasm that means Toei is a bad choice because Toei only made anime full of fillers. But my message was interpreted as the latter.
I don't think there's a specific way to indicate a lack of sarcasm online, that's similar to how you can indicate sarcasm using /s, /sarcasm or italics.
You can, however, change the tone of your message to sound less sarcastic. Your reply sounds the way I'd use to indicate sarcasm in real-life sentences, with words like 'especially', 'filler-ridden' and 'anyway'. Wikihow lists a few characteristics of sarcasm, and your sentence matches some of them:
- Overly positive or negative language: 'filler-ridden' sounds much more negative than 'with filler' for example.
- It sounds critical: The combination of 'especially' and 'anyway' in one sentence sounds like you're critical, that you're aware of the studio's infamy for using filler.
So, get rid of that part of your phrasing. Rephrase your sentence, avoid the overly positive, the overly negative, the critical part. Let people know you know the studio is infamous for creating anime with filler, but that you think they do a better job at making those than a random other studio, so moving the production would at least make that part of the anime better. Tell them exactly like you told us in your explanation of your reply.
Yes, that's a lot more words and explanation, but it also leaves a lot less up to people's imagination and will help with preventing misunderstandings.
Recently, i was responding to a comment that ended with /s and thought they meant serious so i responded trying to help them out genuinly. I got 28 downvotes in about a day and a reply explaining that they were using /s for sarcasm. This really confused me on how to distinguish the two /s because what would you put to be serious if /s means sarcasm????? i thought /j was for joking or being sarcastic. (btw im not old or anything, i recently started using reddit DESPITE it saying ive been using reddit for a year)
