Definition:
A mocking, often ironic or satirical remark intended to wound. Adjective: sarcastic. See also:
Etymology:
From the Greek, "bite the lips in rage"Examples and Observations:
- "Oh, a sarcasm detector. That’s a really useful invention!"
(Comic Book Guy, The Simpsons) - Dr. House: So you're treating professional sports injuries now?
Patient: Oh, no, I'm not . . .
Dr. House: . . . familiar with the concept of sarcasm. Don't sweat it, it's new.
("Dying Changes Everything," House, M.D.) - "Neither irony or sarcasm is argument."
(Samuel Butler) - Teen 1: Oh, here comes that cannonball guy. He's cool.
Teen 2: Are you being sarcastic, dude?
Teen 1: I don't even know anymore.
("Homerpalooza," The Simpsons) - "First, situations may be ironic, but only people can be sarcastic. Second, people may be unintentionally ironic, but sarcasm requires intention. What is essential to sarcasm is that it is overt irony intentionally used by the speaker as a form of verbal aggression."
(John Haiman, Talk Is Cheap: Sarcasm, Alienation, and the Evolution of Language. Oxford Univ. Press, 1998) - "Let it be first provided that this figure (sarcasmus) be not used without some great cause which may well deserve it, as arrogancie, insolent pride, wilfull folly, shamefull lecherie, ridiculous avarice, or such like, for it is both folly and rudenesse to use derision without cause: but to mocke silly people, innocents, or men in misery, or the poore in distresse, argueth both the pride of the mind, and the crueltie of the heart."
(Henry Peachum, The Garden of Eloquence, 1593) - "Sarcasm is related to our ability to understand other people's mental state. It is not just a linguistic form; it is also related to social cognition."
(Dr. Shannon-Tsoory, qtd. by David Adam, "Highest Brain Areas Spot Lowest Form of Wit." The Guardian, June 2, 2005)
Pronunciation: sar-KAZ-um
Also Known As: sarcasmus
