So I thought last night about what I would write about in my blog. And I realized, sadly, that there is plenty of insanity surrounding me that I may be able to fill the blog up yet. And I realized that blogs are really about random thoughts, and well, anyone who knows me knows I have plenty of them. They rarely make sense to me, so if they make sense to you, please feel free to inform me.
Today's topic: Sarcasm.
It occurred to me yesterday, in a rather painful way, that not everyone gets sarcasm. Sarcasm is after all, my daily bread. Its part of my wiring and I can't seem to stop sarcasm. It creeps into every conversation, and almost every thought at times. Let's call it my evil twin.
First, the definition according to Webster:
Sarcasm - the use of an often ironical expression of scorn or contempt.
Irony - a linguistic device or form of humour that takes its effect from stating or implying the opposite of what is the case or what is intended, eg saying 'You've made a really good job of that, haven't you', when someone has done something badly.
You really see sarcasm every where these days. Its in TV, its in music, its in almost every conversation, its in the news...let's face it....it's everywhere. Have we become so calloused and numb to our surroundings that the only way to deal with it is by sarcasm?
Top 3 Places best not to use sarcasm:
1. Work - It seems most people really don't appreciate sarcasm at work. Especially when you use sarcasm mixed with "humor" in an attempt to cover an uncomfortable situation.
2. Dates - Especially the first date. You need to first determine if the other person in the date understands and appreciates sarcasm. If they don't, then you end up looking like an idiot. I've been there...I've witnessed that look of total confusion from the other person.
3. Church - Do I really need to comment on this? I'm sure God doesn't appreciate sarcasm.
I held an official survey here at work to ask people what they thought sarcasm meant. Here are my responses:
"As if you don't know..."
"Sarcasm, that's what we have here."
"Its a form of insult...usually bad" - I couldn't bare to tell this person that insults are rarely good...that would have been sarcastic.
"Sarcasm is a word that is used to explain irony"
"Get away from me..."
"Don't you have work to do? Oh, that's right, you do Customer care."
So, the end result here is that sarcasm is, in fact, every where. Now, what was my point?
2 comments:
You made your point quite well...just thought I'd put some sacrasm out there for you.
You don't think God appreciates sarcasm? Heck, look at the book of Genesis. After every one of his creations, he's quoted as saying "And it was good."
... if that ain't sarcasm, I don't know what is!
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