SINGAPORE POLYTECHNIC

School of Communication, Arts and Social Sciences

Specialist Diploma in English Language Teaching

SC6111: Exploring the English Language

Using Sarcasm as a Tool

for Language Acquisition

Prepared by

Gangasudhan (3)
SELT/EO/1A/01

9th February 2009

SpecialistDiplomainEnglishLanguageTeaching
SC6111:ExploringtheEnglishLanguage

USINGSARCASMASATOOLFORLANGUAGEACQUISITION

This paper explores the feasibility of incorporating sarcasm into teaching

through a limited research into teacherperceptions. Firstly, by using the
findingsofresearchinneuroscienceandlanguagestudiesinrelationtosarcasm,
inferences are drawn to support the use of sarcasmbased lessons.
Consequently,utilisingthequantitativeopinionof46educationpractitionersof
English Language out of 62 respondents who participated in an anonymous
online survey, this paper arrives at the conclusion that there is indeed strong
support and good potential for such an approach. This paper recommends
furtherresearchintothisissueandadvocatestheuseofsarcasmbasedlessons
(anexampleofwhichisannexed)inteaching.

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ThewordsarcasmistraceabletotheGreekwordsarazein,meaningto
speakbitterly,totearfleshlikedogs;thewordironyistraceabletothe
Greektermeironeia,atermusedtodescribeunscrupuloustrickery.
AlbertNKatz(2000)
IntroductiontotheSpecialIssue:
TheUsesandProcessingofIronyandSarcasm

Sarcasm and Irony have intrigued philosophers, scholars and psychologists alike for millennia. More
recently, the interest in the production and processing of these has transcended from the abstract to
thephysiological.StudiesdonebymedicalresearcherssuchasMcDonald(2000),Giora(2000),Channon
(2004), and more recently, ShamayTsoory (2005) are just some examples of how much the
neuropsychologicalinvestigationhasdelvedintothisphenomenon.Today,notonlycanwearriveatthe
irrefutableconclusionthatinterpretingsarcasmandironyisaphysicalprocessofbrainfunction,wecan
evenisolateandidentifythelefthemisphereasthepartofthebrainthatinterpretstheliteralmeaning,
thefrontallobesandrighthemisphereasthepartsthatprocesstheintentionandcontext,andtheright
ventromedial prefrontal cortex as the part that integrates these elements to determine the true
meaning(ShamayTsooryetal,2005).

Manyinroadshavealsobeenmadeintermsofunderstandinghowtheintangiblecomplexityofsarcasm
is interwoven in communication, regardless of language. For example, research into other languages
such as those done by Pengpanich (1998) and Day (1998) demonstrate that the characteristics of
sarcasm are consistent across various languages, and, by studying the technical aspects of the English
Language,KruezandCaucci(2007)suggestthatcuescanbedrawnfromthesyntacticstructureofthe
sarcastictext.

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This finding is corroborated by Livnat (2003 & 2004), whose preceding studies investigated the role
syntactic structure in relative detail, and recognises that it does play at least a nominal role in
understandingsarcasticutterancesaswellasinidentifyingtheintendedvictim.Correspondingly,Bryant
andJean(2006)systematicallyinvestigatedwhethertherewasanironictoneofvoiceandarrivedat
theconclusionthattherewasnospecificidentifierinthisregardandthattoneandintonationwereonly
peripheralcluesthataidinunderstandingthesarcasticutterance.

Whilst adults use sarcasm for different purposes, namely; joking, criticising, teasing and challenging
(Harger & Hallet, 2006), Lee and Katz (1998) suggested that ridicule played an important role in
determining the presence of sarcasm in communication, and, Pexman and Olineck (2002) found that
ironicinsults(sarcasm)werelargelyperceivedtobecriticisminapolitemanner,althoughmoremocking
innaturewiththeinversebeingtrueofironiccompliments.

LanguageAcquisition
Lookingatcommunicationandlanguagelearning,Kruez,LongandChurch(1991)were,infact,ableto
demonstrate that ironybased communication achieves its goals better and results in better retention
andrecallthancommunicationthatwasliteral.

Thisstudylendsconsiderableweighttotheideathatsarcasmcanbeusedforlanguageacquisitionwith
otherstudies,suchasthosedonebyCapelli,NakagawaandMadden (1991),Pexmanetal(2006)and
Ackerman (1982), clearly narrowing down the age range at which children are able to identify and
recognisesarcasmcompetently.Typically,thereisastarkcontrastinhowchildrenrespondtosarcasm
abovetheagesof11(ascomparedtobelowthisage)andverbalcuesseemtobemoreimportantatthe

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earlierstagesofdevelopmentbeforeacomprehensiveabilityincorporatingothercuessuchassyntactic
structure,contextandtheviolationofmaxims,isattained.

In the realm of education, the use of metaphors in teaching is not a new concept, having been in
practicefordecades.ThepopularityoftheclassicMetaphorsWeLiveBy(LakoffandJonhnsons1980)is
a testament to how important metaphors have become in Cognitive Linguistics. In the same vein, at
least one recent study has shed light on the distinguishing characteristics of metaphor and sarcasm
(Colston&Gibbs2002).Thisparticularstudyhasgoneontodemonstratethatsarcasmrequiresahigher
orderofthinkingascomparedtotheprocessingofmetaphors.

This facilitates the suggestion that sarcasmbased lessons could be used subsequent to lessons on
metaphor and warrants serious consideration into the possibility of using sarcasm as a language
acquisitiontool.Withresearchinthisareabeinglimited,thispaperaimstoinitiatesuchaconsideration
by undertaking a broad and relatively generic survey that assessed teacherperception with regard to
theuseofsarcasmbasedlessons.

ResearchSurvey
A ninequestion online survey (reproduced as Annexe A) was prepared with 8 multiple response
questions and 1 optional openended question being offered. The critical data collected was the age,
yearsofexperience,thelevelofsarcasmintheirownbehaviour,thelevelofsarcasmnotedfromtheir
studentsandhoweffectivetheywouldexpectasarcasmlessontobe.

Responseswerecollectedoveraperiodofslightlymorethanonemonth(from30thDecember2008to
4thFebruary2009)throughemailinvitationstotheresearchersfriends,acquaintancesandcolleagues.
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Inaddition,unsolicitedemailinvitationsweresentouttoallthejuniorcollegesandanotewasplaced
ontheresearchersblogwhichreceived2651uniquevisitorsduringtheperiod.

A total of 62 anonymous responses were received, however 12 were incomplete and thus rejected
outright.Oftheremaining50,afurtherfourwereexcludedfromthesurveyanalysisastherespondents
recorded0yearsofexperience(whichmayhavebeenenteredinerror).Theeventual46respondents,
whoseresponseswereused,wereagedbetween21and64,hadvaryingextentsofexperienceranging
from1to37years,andwerehighlylikelytobeeducationpractitionersbasedinSingapore.Whilstthe
groupaveragewas36yearsofagewith8yearsofexperience,therewasa65.3%positivecorrelation
betweenageandexperienceamongthese46respondents.Thiswouldindicatethattherewasafairly
reasonablespreadofexperiencedteachers(asopposedtoteacherswhohaveswitchedtoteachingfrom
apreviouscareer).

Level

Respondents

Primary&Below

10

Secondary

18

ITE

JuniorCollege

12

Polytechnic

Tertiary&Above

Total

46

Table1:BreakdownofRespondentsbyTeachingLevel

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ResponseAnalysis
63%oftherespondentsratedthemselves3oraboveonascaleof5when askedhowsarcasticthey
consideredthemselvestobeandwhenqueriedonthefrequencywithwhichtheyencounteredsarcasm
intheclassroom,only39.1%gavearatingof3andabove.However,ahigherpercentage(55.6%)ofthe
18SecondarySchoolteachersgavethisrating,whichsuggeststhatthismaybethelevelwherestudent
sarcasm is the most outward in a classroom setting. Similarly, more from this group (72.2%) rated
themselves as relatively sarcastic in nature with the Junior College cohort registering the strongest at
83.3%.

Level
Primary&
Below

Secondary

Junior
College

Total

Respondents

10

18

12

46

Sarcasm

Student
Sarcasm
12
70%

12

60%

20%

30%

45

20%

45

0%

12

28%

12

22%

45

Sarcasm
Lesson
Lesson
Potential
Yes 70% 12 30%
No 30%

50%

45

20%

39%

Yes 83% 12

6%

50%

No 17%

67%

50%

45

11%

45

27%

12

17%

12

58%

Yes 67% 12

25%

42%

33%

No 33%

58%

45

41%

45

9%

45

17%

12

37%

12

61%

Yes

70% 12

22%

26%

35%

No 30%

45

37%

45

4%

56%

45

22%

Table2:BreakdownofQuantitativeResponsesReceived

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Amongalltherespondents,5offeredqualitativeresponsesfortheopenendedquestionandthesewere
largely related to the classroom management rather than language acquisition which was to be
expected. However, one respondent did explain that he or she had previously used advertisements
employingsarcasminaclassroomlesson.

Figure3:ListofQualitativeResponsesReceived

Unsurprisingly, 91.3% of the respondents reported that they had never conducted a lesson
incorporating sarcasm with only 4 individuals indicating that they had. Overall, 69.6% were open to
usingasarcasmbasedlessonplanthemselveswhilst78.3%feltthatitcould beeffective (ratingof3
andabove).TheresponsefromtheSecondarySchoolteacherswasthemostencouraging,with94.4%
ratingthepotentialsuccessofasarcasmbasedlessonas3andaboveand83.3%ofthemregistering
theirsupporttoincorporatesuchalessonplanintotheirownteaching.

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3
Primary
Level
Secondary
Level

1/2

4/5

Junior
College
Level
Total

Figure4:RadarChartofRespondentsEstimationofPotentialforSarcasmbasedLesson

Interestingly, there was a 16.6% inverse correlation between age and selfassessment of sarcasm, a
24.2% inverse correlation between age and perception of student sarcasm, and a 14% inverse
correlation between age and estimation of success of a sarcasm lesson. This translates into the
indicationthattheoldertheteacheris,thelowertheyratetheirownlevelofsarcasm,thelesssarcasm
they experience (or choose to experience) from their students, and, naturally, a higher level of
scepticismtowardstheuseofasarcasmbasedlesson.

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Discussion
Thesurveyresponsewasencouragingandthemajorityoftherespondentsfeltthattheywouldconsider
usingasarcasmbasedlessonplan.Althoughthemajorityhadnotemployed usingsuchalessonplan,
theywerenonethelessconfidentthatsuchalessoncouldachieveitsobjective.Fromthebreakdownof
the responses, it can further be noted that, at the very least, the Secondary level may be the most
receptivetosuchanapproach.

The data suggests that Junior College teachers, although rating themselves more sarcastic than their
peersatotherlevels,feelthatasarcasmbasedapproachmay notbesuitable(or necessary)fortheir
studentsandweregenerallylesssupportive.ThisunexpectedfindingcouldbeduetothefactthatJunior
CollegestudentsaretypicallylessbrashandmoretimidthantheircounterpartsinSecondarySchool.
Thispaperhowever,concedesthatduetothelownumberofrespondentsfromtheITE,Polytechnicand
tertiary institutions involved in the survey, no concrete inferences can be drawn for these teaching
levels.

Conclusion
Asthisstudywasspecificallyaimedatageneralinvestigationacrossalllevels,thepreliminaryfindings
suggest that a closer look at the teacher responses of each level may be warranted. A larger study
comprising increased sample sizes of each teaching level would certainly shed more light on the
receptivenessofusingasarcasmbasedlessonandestablishiftheSecondarySchoollevelisindeedthe
mostsuitableforthispurposeasthesurveyresultsseemtosuggest.

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Nevertheless,thisreportissatisfiedthatitsobjectiveshavebeenmetnamely,anawarenessofsuch
an approach was made known to at least hundreds of practitioners, the applicability of sarcasm as a
languageacquisitiontoolwasdemonstratedusingexistingresearchliterature,andfinally,asampleof
thewillingnessofteacherstoadoptsuchanapproachwasobtained.

It is hoped that the research that was undertaken in this paper can be further developed to make
inroadsintothisareaoflimitedresearchandbethenceconsolidatedwithotherparallelresearchinthe
fields of neuroscience and psychology such that an instructive direction can be given to education
practitionersontheuseofsarcasmbasedteaching(anexampleisattachedasAnnexeC).

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REFERENCES

Ackerman,B.,1982.Contextualintegrationandutteranceinterpretation:theabilityofchildren
andadultstointerpretsarcasticutterances.ChildDev,53,pp.10751083.

BryantG.A.andFoxTree,J.E.,2005.Isthereanironictoneofvoice?.LanguageandSpeech,48,
pp.257277.

Day, K. D., 1998. Features and types of insulting, teasing, and sarcastic utterances in spoken
Khmer. In: U. Warotamasikkhadit and T. Panakul, ed. Papers from the Fourth Annual
Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, pp. 229240. Arizona State
University:ProgramforSoutheastAsianStudies.

Capelli,C.,Nakagawa,N.andMadden,C.,1990.Howchildrenunderstandsarcasm:.theroleof
contextandintonation.ChildDev,61,pp.18241841.

Colebrook,C.,2000.Themeaningofirony.TextualPractice,Volume14(1),pp.530.

Colston,H.andGibbs,R.,2002.AreIronyandmetaphorunderstooddifferently?.Metaphorand
Symbol,17(1),pp.5780.

Giora, R., et al., 2000. Differential effects of right and lefthemisphere damage on
understandingsarcasmandmetaphor.ASpecialIssueofMetaphorandSymbol,15(1&
2),pp.6383.

Harger,B.D.andHallett,T.,2006.AmbiguousEnds:TheUseofSarcasmbyAdultsinSchoolStaff
Meetings. In: Annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Montreal
ConventionCenter,11August2006.Montreal,Quebec,Canada.

HeuiJoo J., 2006. Irony Intended: The Pragmatic Functions of Verbal Irony. Ewha Institute for
EnglishandAmericanStudies,EwhaWomansUniversity,Korea.

How To... be sarcastic, 2008. BBC Learning English [online]. Available from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1210_how_to_conv
erse/page13.shtml[Accessed3December2008].

Irony,
Sarcasm,
Satire,
2008
[online].
Available
from:
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/english2/handouts/irony.pdf
[Accessed8December2008].

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Katz, A. N., 2000. Introduction to the Special Issue: The Uses and Processing of Irony and
Sarcasm.ASpecialIssueofMetaphorandSymbol,15(1&2),pp.13.

Keysar,B.,2000.Theillusorytransparencyofintention:DoesJuneunderstandwhatMarkmeans
becausehemeansit?.DiscourseProcesses,29,pp.161172.

Kreuz, R. J., Long, D. L. and Church, M. B., 1991. On being ironic: Pragmatic and mnemonic
implications.MetaphorandSymbolicActivity,6,pp.149162.

Kreuz, R. J. and Caucci, G. M., 2007. Lexical influences on the perception of sarcasm. In:
WorkshoponComputationalApproachestoFigurativeLanguage:Annualmeetingofthe
Human Language Technology Conference, April 2006. Rochester, NY: North American
ChapteroftheAssociationforComputationalLinguistics(HLTNAACL).

Lakoff,G.andJohnson,M.,1980.Metaphorsweliveby.Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress.

Lee,C.J.andKatz.A.N.,1998.Thedifferentialroleofridiculeinsarcasmandirony.Metaphor
andSymbol,13(1),pp.115.

Livnat,Z.,2003.Onverbalironyandtypesofechoing.In:WorkingPapersinLinguistics,Volume
15.DepartmentofPhoneticsandLinguistics,UniversityCollegeLondon.

Livnat, Z., 2004. On verbal irony, metalinguistic knowledge and echoic interpretation.
PragmaticsandCognition,12,pp.5770.

McDonald, S., 2000. Neuropsychological Studies of Sarcasm. A Special Issue of Metaphor and
Symbol,15(1&2),pp.8598.

Nakassis,C.andSnedeker,C.,2002.Beyondsarcasm:IntonationandContextasRelationalCues
inChildren'sRecognitionofIrony.In:GreenhillA.etal.,ed.ProceedingsoftheTwenty
sixth Boston University Conference on Language Development. Somerville, MA:
CascadillaPress.

Pengpanich, A., 1998. A pragmatic look at sarcasm in Thai. In: U. Warotamasikkhadit and T.
Panakul,ed.PapersfromtheFourthAnnualMeetingoftheSoutheastAsianLinguistics
Society,pp.241250.ArizonaStateUniversity:ProgramforSoutheastAsianStudies.

Pexman,P.M.andOlineckK.M.,2002.DoesSarcasmAlwaysSting?InvestigatingtheImpactof
IronicInsultsandIronicCompliments.DiscourseProcesses,33(3),pp.199217.

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Pexman, P. M., et al., 2006. Childrens use of trait information in understanding verbal irony.
MetaphorandSymbol,21,pp.3960.

Pinker,S.,2006.Dilemmas:Sheusessarcasm,sheknowsallthetricks.TheGlobeandMail,13
Decp.C2.

Roberts, R. M. and Kreuz, R. J., 1994. Why do people use figurative language? Psychological
Science,5,pp.159163.

ShamayTsoory, S. G., Tomer R. and AharonPeretz J., 2005. The neuroanatomical basis of
understanding sarcasm and its relationship to social cognition. Neuropsychol, 19, pp.
288300.

S'hiri, S., 1992. A pragmatics of verbal irony in literary discourse: An example from drama.
EdinburghWorkingPapersinLinguistics,3,pp.124134.

Tepperman J., Traum D. and Narayanan S., 2006. Yeah right: Sarcasm recognition for spoken
dialoguesystems.Interspeech.Pittsburgh.

The
George
Orwell
Award,2000.
Quarterly
Review
of
Doublespeak26
[online],no.2(January1):1.Availablefrom:ProQuest[Accessed27November2008].

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AnnexeA
SurveyQuestionnaireHostedAt
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=qFacnnFfir_2f9cAocMYSasQ_3d_3d

UsingSarcasmasaLanguageAcquisitionTool
IamapostgraduatestudentinanEnglishLanguageTeachingprogrammewhoisexploringhow
sarcasmcanbeemployedtoteachaspectsoflanguagetoadvancedstudents.Thepurposeof
thissurveyistogatherfeedbackfrompractitionersonwhethertheythinksarcasmcanbeused
forteachinglanguageandiftheywoulduseitthemselvesintheirownclassroom.

It is hoped that this survey will create awareness on using sarcasm as a language acquisition
toolandinitiateinterestindevelopinglessonsthatincorporatesarcasmaswell.

Pleasefeelfreetoemailmeatgangasudhan@email.comforfurtherenquiries,toprovidemore
details(ifyousowish),torequestforsamplesarcasmexercisesthatIwillbecreating,and/or
justtobesarcastictome.

Q1.

Howoldareyou?

Age

Q2.

Howmanyyearsofteachingexperiencedoyouhave?

Experience

Q3
Whichleveldoyouspecialisein?
Primary&
Secondary
ITE
Junior
Polytechnic Tertiary&
Below
College
Above

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Q4

Q5

Q6

Q7

Q8

Q9

Howmuchofasarcasticpersonwouldyouconsideryourself?
1=NotSarcastic
5=VerySarcastic
1
2
3
4

Towhatextentdoyouencountersarcasmfromyourstudents?
1=Never
5=EveryTimeQ5
1
2
3
4

Haveyouconductedalessonthatusessarcasmaspartofthelessondesign?
Yes
No

Ifyouhaveusedsarcasmtoconductlessons,Iwouldbegratefulifyoucanbriefly
describethelesson.
(Ifyoudonotwishtoshareand/orhavenotusedsarcasmtoconductlessons,please
proceedtothenextquestion.)

Ifprovidedwithagoodlessonplanthatincorporatessarcasm,wouldyouuseit?
Yes
No

Basedonyourexperience,howeffectivedoyouthinkagoodlessonplanthat
incorporatessarcasmwouldbe?
1=NotEffective
5=VeryEffective
1
2
3
4
5

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AnnexeB
OverallSurveyResults

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AnnexeC
SampleLessonPlan

LESSONPLAN
Aim:

Appreciate the Role of Context in English Language

CommunicationThroughSarcasm

LevelofStudents:

UpperIntermediate

LearnerProfile:

Academicallyinclined students at Secondary School who

respondwelltotheAuditoryandKinestheticlearningstyles

LessonTime: 45minutes
Specificobjectives: Attheendofthelesson;
1) Studentsshouldbeabletoprovideatleast2distinctmeaningsforeachgiven
sarcasticsentence.
2) Studentsshouldbeabletoofferlogicalscenariosthatcanreasonablyexplain
obviouslysarcasticstatements.

Materials:
EquipmenttofacilitatePowerPointPresentation
Visualiser
Activities:
Activity1
Asaclassactivity,studentsareshownaseriesofsarcasticsentencesand,foreach,
areaskedtoofferasmanydifferentmeaningsaspossible(seeActivityList1below).
Activity2
As a class activity, students are shown a series of common sarcastic remarks (with
context)and,foreach,areaskedtovolunteerlogicalandreasonablescenariosthat
giveanacceptablemeaninginstead(seeActivityList2below).
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Method:
Stage1

10mins
1) Teacherprimestheclassbydefiningthewordcontext
and giving some common examples where context
subconsciously plays a part. Examples may include
simplemetaphorssuchasgreedypig,couchpotato,
to pull your socks up and apple of my eye, which
couldthenextendtoexcerptssuchasAlltheworld'sa
stage; and all the men and women merely players
(Shakespeare).
2) Student participation is encouraged by allowing for
spontaneousadditionsofpersonalexamples.
3) Teacher directs students to consider the scenario
where the context is removed and the metaphor no
longer has the intended meaning. For example, in a
land where there are no sofas (couches), how would
the term couch potato be understood; in a place
where there are no socks, how can someone infer to
pullyoursocksup?
4) Teacher inserts sarcastic adlibs during the class
discussion.
5) PowerPointPresentationistheninitiated.

Stage2

10mins
6) Activity1isintroducedwithanexamplesarcastic(but
ambiguous)sentenceflashedonscreentotheclassasa
whole.
7) Studentsareaskedtoofferasmanydifferentmeanings
as they can think of for each sentence that is flashed
and the meanings are written on the board for visual
anchoring.
8) They are intentionally not told that the sentences are
sarcasticinnature.
9) Totalof5sentencesareflashedoneatatime.

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15mins

Stage3
10) Activity 2 is continued with an example of an often
heardsarcasticsentenceflashedonscreentotheclass
as a whole (students are made aware that these are
sarcasticremarks).
11) Teacher may choose to include a context explanation
(verbalorvisual)toaidthestudentsunderstandingof
thesarcasticremarkasnecessary.
12) Students are then asked to offer a plausible scenario
thatwouldmakeeachsentenceappropriateinaliteral
senseandnegatethesarcasm.
13) Total of 5 sentences are flashed one at a time with
enough time given for students to think about a
suitable scenario before a possible suggestion is
revealed.
14) Purpose is to facilitate students to think about the
scenarios (and thereby the role of context) that can
completelyaltertheintendedmeaningofthesarcastic
comment.

10mins

Stage6
15) Teacher completes the discussion by identifying the
criticalfactorofcontextthatcanverywellruinthe
intention of a sarcastic remark. Other examples of
sarcasm (other languages etc) can then be offered at
the teachers discretion or other written work on
contextcanbeappendedtotheendofthislesson.

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Activity1Listof5SarcasticSentences
It'sacatastrophicsuccess.

SarcasticMessage:Thesuccessissogreatthatitisacatastrophe.
PossibleLiteralMeaning:Thedemolitionexpertwasabletobringdownthebuildingin
anefficientmanner.

Ifeelsomiserablewithoutyou;it'salmostlikehavingyouhere.

SarcasticMessage:Havingyouaroundisworsethannothavingyouaround.
PossibleLiteralMeaning:Thepersonwasveryillandtheirdeathisequallyaspainfulas
seeingthemsuffer.

Ineverforgetaface,butinyourcaseI'llbegladtomakeanexception.

SarcasticMessage:Idontwanttoremembermeetingyou.
PossibleLiteralMeaning:Asanofficer,Ishouldrememberacriminallikeyou,butsince
youremyfriend,IllpretendthatIdonotknowyou.

Hehasnoenemies,butisintenselydislikedbyhisfriends.

SarcasticMessage:Noonelikeshim.
PossibleLiteralMeaning:Heisanallroundseriousperson,soeveryonerespectshim
butnoonecanbeclosetohim.

Ididn'tattendthefuneral,butIsentanicelettersayingIapprovedofit.

SarcasticMessage:Idontlikehimandamgladthatheisdead.
PossibleLiteralMeaning:Iwasunabletotraveltothefuneralbutsentmycondolences
throughanofficialletter.
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Activity2Listof5CommonSarcasticremarks
Youtakingsteroids?(eg.whensomeonedoessomethingextremelyfast...)

SarcasticMessage:Whyareyoubeingsohurried?
PossibleScenario:DrugTesteraskingplayerorjournalistsqueryingsuspiciously
successfulsportsman.

It'sokaytofeelwhatyouare.(eg.whensomeonesays,"Ifeelsostupid"...)

SarcasticMessage:Youareindeedstupid.
PossibleScenario:Someonewhoisfeelingguiltyaboutwinning.

It'sokay,you'reajokeallbyyourself.(eg.whensomeonesays,"Hey,youwanttoheara
joke?"...)
SarcasticMessage:NobodytakesyouseriouslyandIamnotinterestedinyourjokes.
PossibleScenario:Acomedicperformerwhohaslosthisprops.

Ah,I'mnotsurprised.(eg.Whensomeonesays,"Idon'tknowhowtodothis."...)

SarcasticMessage:Youarestupid,nosurprises.
PossibleScenario:Thepersondoesnothavetheexpertiseforanadvancedproblem.

Youlooklikemygrandma'sgrandmother!

SarcasticMessage:Youlookugly/veryold.
PossibleScenario:Itsareferencetosomegenuinedistinguishingfeatureoftheperson.

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