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Author Topic: Ironic threads--how to spot them.  (Read 32547 times)
grasshopper
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« Reply #30 on: July 27, 2007, 10:00:33 AM »

Yeesh. I just made all that up. Doesn't anyone look in the dictionary any more?

I did, but the difference is so minute that it makes no sense.

SATIRE: use of ridicule to expose vice or folly
SARDONIC: mocking or scornful
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spork
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« Reply #31 on: July 27, 2007, 10:02:44 AM »

Sarcasm = sark = Latin from a Greek word for skin.  Same root as sarcoma.
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spork
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« Reply #32 on: July 27, 2007, 10:03:27 AM »

Or rather "flesh."  I think that's more accurate than "skin."
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a.k.a. gum-chewing monkey in a Tufts University jacket

"Please do not force people who are exhausted to take medication for hallucinations." -- Memo from the Chair, Department of White Privilege Studies, Fiork University
grasshopper
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« Reply #33 on: July 27, 2007, 10:04:33 AM »

Yeesh. I just made all that up. Doesn't anyone look in the dictionary any more?

I did, but the difference is so minute that it makes no sense.

SATIRE: use of ridicule to expose vice or folly
SARDONIC: mocking or scornful

Whoops! Sorry - lost track of all the "sar" words.

SARCASM: bitter or wounding ironic language
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grasshopper
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« Reply #34 on: July 27, 2007, 10:13:54 AM »

Irony has to do with double meaning. Something (a fact, a comment) can simply be ironic, whereas parody requires a narrative, something that extends over time.

Good point. There are a lot of different types of irony. Verbal/rhetorical irony was, from what I remember, pretty much the be all end all of irony until the 18th (?) century. It referred to a statement where the intended meaning of the statement is in direct opposition to the statement itself.

Which sounds an awful lot like sarcasm, no?

Anyway, around the late 18th C. (I think?), things changed, and the definition of irony extended to include situational irony - an awareness of paradox, etc.  I seem to remember reading that this was very postmodern - self-reflexive, etc... 

Situational irony doesn't require a narrative. (Neither would rhetorical irony, I suppose, although even a simple ironic statement would have to be placed within a narrative to make any sense as an "opposite," wouldn't it?)
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walker_percy
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« Reply #35 on: July 27, 2007, 10:16:22 AM »

ETE: Vox is helpful, winsome, and there's not a combative bone in her body. You, on the other hand, sound like a fruitcake.

Or you're being ironic, in which case, I retract that last sentence and say, very clever!
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verbena
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« Reply #36 on: July 27, 2007, 10:26:53 AM »

Sarcasm = sark = Latin from a Greek word for skin.  Same root as sarcoma.

And the "-tearing" part...?
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eyetoeye
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« Reply #37 on: July 27, 2007, 10:32:55 AM »

There's a scene in the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead movie where they're playing tennis while competing verbally. The play itself is like a verbal tennis match. It's something along the lines:

Rosencrantz: (serves ball) Metaphorical sleight of hand...

Guildenstern: (returns gently to center court)  Gentle questioning...

Rosencrantz: (returns hard down the line) Prodding response.....

etc. It reminds me of the Monty Python sketch. 
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grasshopper
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« Reply #38 on: July 27, 2007, 10:36:06 AM »

Is this an example of irony or sarcasm?

http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,29515.msg397524.html#msg397524
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walker_percy
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« Reply #39 on: July 27, 2007, 10:37:41 AM »

Wait. I thought it was decided that sarcasm is a type of irony.
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grasshopper
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« Reply #40 on: July 27, 2007, 10:42:16 AM »

Nope - it was suggested that sarcasm is sometimes a part of irony.
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spork
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« Reply #41 on: July 27, 2007, 10:49:08 AM »

Sarcasm = sark = Latin from a Greek word for skin.  Same root as sarcoma.

And the "-tearing" part...?

That would be the "kaz" suffix, though I think the direct translation is something along the lines of "angry enough to bite one's own flesh."
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a.k.a. gum-chewing monkey in a Tufts University jacket

"Please do not force people who are exhausted to take medication for hallucinations." -- Memo from the Chair, Department of White Privilege Studies, Fiork University
voxprincipalis
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« Reply #42 on: July 27, 2007, 10:55:09 AM »

There's a scene in the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead movie where they're playing tennis while competing verbally. The play itself is like a verbal tennis match. It's something along the lines:

Rosencrantz: (serves ball) Metaphorical sleight of hand...

Guildenstern: (returns gently to center court)  Gentle questioning...

Rosencrantz: (returns hard down the line) Prodding response.....

etc. It reminds me of the Monty Python sketch. 

I am reporting you to the moderators for hijacking this thread.

VP
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gayle
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« Reply #43 on: July 27, 2007, 10:57:02 AM »

Yeesh. I just made all that up. Doesn't anyone look in the dictionary any more?

Dictionary?  What's that?

I guess I always thought of sardonic as having a 'darker' feel to it than sarcastic.  But, I'm a numbers person.
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london1
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« Reply #44 on: July 27, 2007, 11:09:10 AM »

Yeesh. I just made all that up. Doesn't anyone look in the dictionary any more?

Dictionary?  What's that?

I guess I always thought of sardonic as having a 'darker' feel to it than sarcastic.  But, I'm a numbers person.

Hey, gayle, take the 8th grade math quiz that I posted on another thread.  I flunked, but I bet you ace it.
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"Years ago my mother used to say...in this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.  Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant...."
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