Sarcasm - what is it?
There are many jokers in our world and they are different. If someone begins to play an evil joke on another, then he uses a technique that since ancient times was considered accessible only to people of high ranks and titles. To understand what sarcasm means, you need to go back to the origins of this word.
Sarcasm
It has Greek roots and several translations: “tearing flesh”, “tearing meat”, “biting lips”, probably referring to the state of a person who has heard something unpleasant addressed to him, dressed in the form of a joke. Dictionaries explain the meaning of this word as an evil mockery, an offensive, insulting joke, with the help of which they want to show someone in a negative light.
How to recognize sarcasm?
It is very easy to distinguish sarcastic statements from ironic or humorous ones. Each of them has its own semantic meaning. The least offensive are humorous jokes that can make you think and laugh at a problem or a person without humiliating or insulting him. Irony is a more “poisonous lady.” She can allow herself not only to joke, but also to prick with one phrase or another without too much pain.
Even fleeting statements with sarcasm are especially sharp, poisonous and offensive, but it is important with what message they are uttered. At the same time, the speaker, as a rule, understands perfectly well that he is offending a person, but this is what he is trying to achieve. In this case, it is worth responding to the words correctly in order not to close yourself off.
An explanatory dictionary came to the rescue
Some dictionaries give too florid a description of this word and concept. Coming from the Greek language, sarcasm passed into the Russian language, using the technique of opposition and enhancing the effect of perception. With the help of sarcasm, concepts are replaced in a more rude and mocking form. Sarcasm coexists with hyperbole (exaggeration).
Let's say it's very hot outside. A warmly dressed man is walking down the street. Using exaggeration, you can achieve sarcasm: “Why did you leave the fur coat at home in the summer?” Real emotions could offend a person, and sarcasm softened this mockery a little. The most important thing in this means of expressive speech is to use direct hints.
Karl Bogdanovich Wenig “Portrait of a young woman in traditional clothing”, 1889 Location: State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
How to respond to sarcasm?
A difficult and very painful question is how to relate to this speech style on the part of another person and how to react to it. It has been noticed that sharp sarcasm is heard not about everyone, but about those who allow such jokes to be directed at them. Often such a person turns into a “whipping boy”, and everyone and everything is making evil jokes about him with or without reason. You need to protect yourself from offensive jokes and you can do this in the following ways:
- get rid of complexes;
- learn to respond to sarcasm with sarcasm;
- If possible, attend personal growth courses.
Psychologists say that ridicule is allowed towards people with complexes, suffering from various fears or constant feelings of guilt, often without even realizing what they are guilty of. This can continue until offensive words are spoken in response to the offender, and this will be done in public. As practice shows, a sharp, no less sarcastic answer well sobers up the presumptuous joker.
Sarcasm and irony - the difference
In order not to be offended by any joke and not to make a tragedy out of every word, you need to understand where sarcasm and irony are and how they differ. If everything is clear about sarcasm, with the help of which they want to openly offend a person, then irony, having a negative evaluative content, is more veiled. It may not directly, but covertly express ridicule or exposure. Sarcasm is a cruder and more offensive form of jokes. As for irony, you need to try to grasp its subtle meaning, which is not given to everyone.
Irony in literature
Creating irony in literature that readers will understand and appreciate is not easy. The author must be distinguished by talent and a unique vision, which implies the presence of a developed intellect, a conceptual way of thinking and linguistic sensitivity.
For example, our beloved A.S. Pushkin condemns the secular society that is unattractive to him, mockingly calling it “people you meet everywhere,” “necessary fools,” or “the flower of the capital.”
In Ivan Andreevich Krylov’s fable “The Fox and the Donkey,” the Fox addresses the Donkey, but in fact she considers him stupid:
“Where, smart one, are you delusional, head?”
And in his fable “The Dragonfly and the Ant,” Dragonfly hears irony from the Ant, since for him singing is idleness:
“Have you been singing everything? This business".
Gogol also loved to use irony. For example, how he describes his vile and vile heroes using supposedly enthusiastic phrases:
“So, two most respectable men, the honor and adornment of Mirgorod, quarreled among themselves! And for what? For nonsense, for the gander."
Another example from Gogol’s creations - in “Dead Souls” he characterizes Chichikov as “the most decent person who has ever existed in the world.”
Is sarcasm good or bad?
If we are talking about those who use sarcastic statements more often, then as a rule they turn out to be smart people, but to one degree or another deprived of attention, love, and care. Or, on the contrary, they are satiated with the blessings of life and consider only themselves worthy of attention. True, such darlings of fate, as a rule, in their evil jokes slide into banal rudeness, ideally not understanding what sarcasm is.
The entertaining art of sarcasm has nothing in common with it, since it presupposes mastery of the word and its skillful use. At the same time, the addressee of sarcasm is quite specific, and the thought, accompanied by a sharp and cruel joke, is clear. There is no need to guess whether sarcasm is good or bad. Depending on whose hands this weapon is in, the result of its firing may be different. At the same time, we should not forget that the wonderful actress Faina Ranevskaya became famous not only for her acting skills, but also for her sarcastic phrases that are relevant and have long been quoted.
- It’s better to be a good person who “swears” than a quiet, well-mannered creature.
- Horseradish, based on the opinions of others, ensures a calm and happy life.
- Under the most beautiful peacock tail hides the most ordinary chicken ass. So less pathos, gentlemen.
- Why are all women such fools?
- Do you know what it's like to act in a movie? Imagine that you are washing in a bathhouse, and they take you on a tour there.
- To gain recognition one must, even must, die.
- Lesbianism, homosexuality, masochism, sadism are not perversions. Actually, there are only two perversions: field hockey and ice ballet.
- Everything pleasant in this world is either harmful, immoral, or leads to obesity.
- I hate you. Wherever I go, everyone looks around and says: “Look, it’s Mulya, don’t make me nervous, she’s coming.”
- Women, of course, are smarter. Have you ever heard of a woman who would lose her head just because a man has beautiful legs?
- Talent is self-doubt and painful dissatisfaction with oneself and one’s shortcomings, which I have never encountered in mediocrity.
- I’m watching this film for the fourth time and I must tell you that today the actors played like never before.
Types of irony
For many decades, different authors in different countries of the world have been trying to divide irony into different types and present them to society. Here we present one of these versions.
Verbal irony
The words used mean something different from what the person actually says.
Example: “I can’t wait to read this seven hundred page report.”
Verbal irony is also divided into:
- exaggeration - when a person exaggerates something;
- understatement - when a person minimizes something.
Dramatic irony
When the audience knows about something that the characters in action are not aware of. This type of irony is popular in art (films, books, poems and plays).
It takes place in three stages:
Setup - The audience learns about something the character doesn't know about.
Elaboration is the use of this information to develop curiosity among the audience.
The denouement is the events that happen when the character finally learns the truth.
A special category of dramatic irony is tragic irony. An example of tragic irony is when a character orders poisoned food that will kill him or her, and the audience already knows that the character is destined to die from poisoning.
Situational irony
There is a discrepancy between what is expected and what actually happens, i.e. the exact opposite of what is supposed to happen.
An example would be when someone buys a gun to protect themselves, but it is used to their detriment in the future.
How to learn sarcasm?
Be that as it may, sarcasm implies a person’s daring behavior and his self-confidence, but if you start using it incorrectly, you can run into big trouble. Those who want to make sarcastic jokes should know how to learn sarcasm and irony without putting themselves in an awkward position. The main thing if you want to offend someone is to:
- great sense of humor;
- competent and good vocabulary;
- absence of offensive words and words of parasites;
- choosing the right place or situation for a joke;
- serious look.
If you quickly begin to practice yourself in ironic statements, then within a month you will be able to show off your eloquence. The main thing is not to go too far, because sarcasm, although humorous, is sometimes offensive. In life, this skill is very useful, because correctly constructed speech with notes of insolence helps to open many doors.
Ridicule in real life
In the modern world, sarcasm has become a game. This is the lot of people with a high level of intelligence and erudition. A kind of competition arises to see who has the most sophisticated insult and who will respond more worthy.
Sarcasm allows you to tell a person in a veiled, but quite clear way, what others don’t like about him. A sarcastic statement causes less negativity than direct criticism or comparison. In rare cases, this ends in resentment or conflict. This is the peculiarity of sarcasm. Only people with an original mindset can master this art.
But if in literature the technique is needed for the beauty of the description, a more accurate transmission of the main idea and essence of the work, then in everyday life the purpose of its use changes noticeably. People use sarcasm to:
- humiliate a person or his individual actions, qualities, properties, abilities, plan of action;
- make fun of the situation and the behavior of the people in it;
- demonstrate your own superiority;
- point out shortcomings and immoral behavior, force them to work on themselves;
- express dislike for someone or something;
- condemn a person or situation;
- prove yourself right;
- demonstrate your intelligence and erudition;
- protect yourself from attacks from others.
Synonyms of sarcasm in everyday language are a jab, gloating, a caustic statement, mockery, causticity, an expression on the topic of the day. Usually people answer something like: “You successfully pinned him,” “That’s a cool joke,” “Aren’t you tired of pinning me yet?”
