by Don L. F. Nilsen and Alleen Pace Nilsen Sarcasm by Don L. F. Nilsen and Alleen Pace Nilsen

The Onion The Onion has a sarcastic slogan. It is: “America’s Finest News Source.” The Onion Web Site: http://www.theonion.com

Monte Python on “Sarcasm”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fNvi6xG-5Y

Three Types of Irony or Sarcasm: More than 2,000 years ago, the Roman rhetorician Quintilian concluded that there three types of irony or sarcasm. These occur whenever the literal meaning of a statement does not fit with: The delivery of the statement The character of the speaker Or the topic of the statement

Ironic Insults: Ironic insults, where the positive literal meaning is subverted by the negative intended meaning, will be perceived to be more positive than direct insults, where the literal meaning is negative.

Occupation, Gender and Social Class as Indicators of Sarcasm Occupation, gender, and social class allow a person to predict how often a speaker will use sarcasm, and how often an audience will detect its usage. For example, if the speaker is a priest the listener would not generally assume that sarcasm is being used. But if the speaker is a comedian, the listener would general assume that sarcasm is being used.

Gendered Sarcasm Stacey Ivanko, Penny Pexman, and Kara Olineck say that men tend to use sarcasm more frequently than women do. Also, men tend to use sarcasm in a self-protective manner to cover their insecurities. But women tend to use self-deprecating sarcasm to show their own vulnerability, and to promote in-group intimacy.

Sarcasm Web Sites CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM: http://www.hbo.com/curb-your-enthusiasm/index.html IGOODESMAN AND JOO: http://cartoonando.blogspot.com/2008/04/1000-posts.html JIMMY KIMMELL: http://abc.go.com/latenight/jimmykimmel/index?pn=index

DAVID LETTERMAN: http://www.cbs.com/late_night/late_show/ PACHELBELL RANT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM SARCMARK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlwCCWGYOGg SOUTHPARK: http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/155394/?tab=featured