Ironic or Sarcastic?
Last Modified: 01/09/2020
It's hard to tell the difference between irony and sarcasm.
- 1Great weather we're having!
- 2Awesome job!
- 3You're a tremendous athlete!
- 4Compliments, right?
- 5Well, maybe.
- 6Depending on the attitude and tone of voice behind these lines,...
- 7...they very well may be compliments.
- 8They may also be, though, pointed and attacking lines.
- 9This slight change of attitude behind the lines reveals what we call "verbal irony."
- 10So when someone says, "Great weather we're having,"...
- 11...it is quite possible that person really means that...
- 12...if the sun is shining, the birds are singing and the wind is calm.
- 13But if the weather is horrible, the clouds are looming and the wind is a raging tempest,...
- 14...and someone says, "Great weather we're having,"...
- 15...he probably doesn't actually mean that.
- 16He probably means that the weather is horrible,...
- 17...but he has said the opposite.
- 18This is verbal irony:...
- 19...when the speaker says the opposite of what he means.
- 20I know what you're thinking.
- 21Isn't this sarcasm?
- 22Isn't the speaker being sarcastic?
- 23Yes.
- 24When a speaker says the opposite of what he means, that is verbal irony.
- 25When the speaker then goes the step farther to mean the opposite of what he says...
- 26...and seeks to be a little pointed and mean, like he's making fun of something,...
- 27...then you have sarcasm.
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