| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 438.1 | ;^) | DECWET::JWHITE | waldo the bird is dead | Fri Oct 12 1990 17:24 | 4 |
|
i know in my case, i am sarcastic and/or cynical so much of the
time people can't believe it when i'm actually being sincere.
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| 438.3 | | CSC32::CONLON | Cosmic laughter, you bet. | Sun Oct 14 1990 16:31 | 4 |
|
People can be just as mistaken about whether or not smiley faces
are phony as they can be about whether or not sarcasm is present.
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| 438.5 | The drawback of written communication... | CSC32::CONLON | Cosmic laughter, you bet. | Sun Oct 14 1990 16:51 | 5 |
|
When someone follows a note with nothing but a smile(s), it's
usually a positive message - but then again, no one really knows
except the person who writes such smiles.
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| 438.7 | Social interactions in written communications are complex. | CSC32::CONLON | Cosmic laughter, you bet. | Sun Oct 14 1990 17:19 | 12 |
|
It's good to keep an open mind when someone writes a pleasant
salutation accompanied by a smiley face (because a normal part
of offering pleasantries is to smile with them.) Sometimes the
person simply wants to emphasize the fact that s/he would like to
convey a sincere smile to someone (along with a positive message.)
It's dangerous to assume that a positive message accompanied by
a smile means a lack of sincerity on the part of the author.
It *could* be sarcasm, but not necessarily, so why assume so?
|
| 438.8 | In the eye of the beholder | NUTMEG::GODIN | Naturally I'm unbiased! | Mon Oct 15 1990 09:44 | 5 |
| Speaking only for myself, I have a tendency to think a statement is
probably sarcastic if (1) it's from an individual I've taken a dislike
to and (2) I agree with it.
Karen
|
| 438.9 | | HEFTY::CHARBONND | scorn to trade my place | Mon Oct 15 1990 09:50 | 4 |
| re .0 I think sarcasm is easier to recognize by _sound_ than by
_sight_. Which is one of the limitations of Notes, and one good
reason to minimize the use of sarcasm in Notes.
|
| 438.10 | It's easy to be mistaken. | CSC32::CONLON | Cosmic laughter, you bet. | Mon Oct 15 1990 09:55 | 6 |
|
RE: .9 Dana
It's also one of the reasons to assume someone is being sarcastic
less often.
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| 438.11 | | LYRIC::QUIRIY | Note � la mode | Mon Oct 15 1990 10:11 | 9 |
|
I can be wickedly sarcastic, but I think this happens usually when
I'm hurt and my impulse is to hurt back. Sometimes I can do it
with humor as the goal, but less frequently.
I think understatement or overstatement are essential components of
sarcasm.
CQ
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| 438.13 | | TCC::HEFFEL | League of Pushy Women, Self-appointed President. | Mon Oct 15 1990 11:29 | 15 |
| When I wrote a Guide to Notes etiquette for the Parenting notefile, my
take on sarcasm was that it very hard to convey in a written medium. The best
way to do it was not to.
When I write sarcasm in notes, I make SURE is it recongnized as such by
doing something like the following:
*Heavy Sarcasm follows*...
"Hear the sarcasm dripping from my voice, (fingers?)..."
Not the most subtle device, I'll admit, but sometimes, clarity is
preferable to sublety.
Tracey
|
| 438.14 | | THEBUS::MALING | Life is a balancing act | Mon Oct 15 1990 17:19 | 11 |
| Re: .8
Karen,
Thanks for your point of view. It's really quite enlightening. I
sometimes find myself in a frustrating situation with someone where
everything I say gets taken as sarcasm when its not intended. It had
not occurred to me that the person may not like me. Dislike is not
always mutual.
Mary
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| 438.15 | it's usually in me | TLE::RANDALL | living on another planet | Tue Oct 16 1990 12:09 | 30 |
| I generally find that most sarcasm is in me. When I'm feeling
insecure, threatened, uncertain, or otherwise vulnerable, I'll
often hear an attack where none was intended.
For instance, I see no merit to housekeeping and do only the
minimum necessary to keep the health authorities from intervening,
but sometimes old values of a good woman as someone who keeps her
house clean and shining pop up, making me feel insecure of myself
as a woman. If I'm feeling like that and someone compliments me
on something about the house -- which is likely to be something
Neil deserves the credit for anyway -- I'll sometimes go up like a
match on a gas leak and scorch the innocent and very surprised
victim with my temper, since I'll assume they're being sarcastic
and critical about my usual housekeeping standards.
In a way written communication is better because it gives me time
to detach, calm down, and look to see if the offense is coming
from inside me. Which, as I said, it usually is.
The best way to deal with sarcasm is usually to ignore it anyway.
Once a woman I work with made a real catty remark about my
hairstyle. Or lack thereof. I smiled my most dazzling smile and
said, "Why, thank you, I'm so glad you like it. And I think it's
so wonderful when women can get together and support each other in
their choices rather than trying to compete with one another."
She still thinks I'm nuts.
--bonnie
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