Sarcasm and Americans

is sarcasm an alien concept to americans???

i've had the most amount of fun exploring this concept recently!!!!

That's funny. When I read this thread's title, "Sarcasm and Americans," I assumed you were going to say that Americans were overly sarcastic. But now I see you're indicating the opposite. This suggests to me that you think Brits (or Londoners?) are more sarcastic than Yanks. Yes?

i think that the sarcasm is far less pronounced when brits use it,

the sarcasm is more refined and subtle, usually taking the form of an insult disguised as an compliment

wheras yankee sarcasm is overtly obvious, with key words accentuated to make sure people know they are being sarcastic,

being sarcastic and the recipient not realising is a beautiful thing, thats what americans dont get!!

ps, the beaches on tenerife are great, and not at all sooty

Yes...I love British sarcasm...the way they disguise it...much like Bahamian Sarcasm. Very slick and very funny when the other person does't realize that they are being insulted

Actually, I'm not sure now that the word "sarcasm" is used the same in British versus American English. (Like, for example, I've been told that when Yanks say "vaudeville," Brits might be thinking we mean "burlesque" when we're really talking about what Brits call "music hall.")

I think that's what threw me originally with Pimpingpawnage's opening comment. To me, at least, "sarcasm" means insulting comedy that is overly obvious--like very coarse American humor. So it wouldn't have occurred to me to describe British humor as being "sarcasm" at all--just subtle digs that are very funny. 

"Subtle" is the word I think describes British humor for me. Even British slapstick and panto has a subtlety to it that requires thought beyond just the physical comedy of it. So, when John Cleese goose-steps across the lobby of Faulty Towers, you still have to put it into context with what else is transpiring to get the humor of it. It's not just a "Funny Walk" in which the Ministry might be interested.   c|:>)   

Totally off off-topic, but I found this interesting ... 

TOPIC: cheater_1 is back

boots9548 (from Memphis) wrote: "personaly I could care less."

whereas we Brits would say: "personally I could NOT care less."

Once you start analysing these two idioms, you realise that the American form actually states the opposite of what it means, which is rather ironic.

Actually, where I'm originally from (Illinois) we said "I could not care less." I came out to California and began hearing "I could care less." Which never made sense to me. 

Unless, of course, it's subtle sarcasm.  :-))

without trying to cause undue controversy,

"i could care less" no doubt embellished with an apathetic shrug of the shoulders is less sarcasm, but more of a dialect trait noted for its prevelence amongst jewish communities.

i could even go so far as to say that its just a lazy adaptation of the queens english!! lol

is it just me or is the previous post in a weird font, squished and aligned to the left?

would it be possible for you to re-post it please

then i promise to methodicallty analyse each of your points, and respond with bullet points, annotations in italic font et al

Canadian humour is in the formatting.

In the British (original) series of "The Office" for example, the sarcasm was so blatant it wasn't funny at all. And mostly involving swear words, which is low-brow in my book. But maybe it was just that show, and the rest of British civilization is still intact. (sarcasm)

Does anyone know the actual source of the observation that the US is the only society to have gone from barbarism to decadence without passing through civilization along the way?

 The fact that you had to put (sarcasm) at the end of your statement is highly amusing!!!!

It would seem to ratify my previous statements about American sarcasm entirely

Let's try to identify the top 10 sarcastic/satirical topics - and count how many were written by Brits and how many by (what do we call Americans these days?)

I think Yanks is still okay. (It's not negative sounding like Limeys, if that's what you're asking. We've got a pro baseball team called the Yanks, after all.) Yanks and Brits is okay, isn't it? With Brits applying to the whole UK?

I've seen this attributed to Wilde, Clemenceau (spelling?), and others. I often hear this statement with no attribution at all, as if the speaker would like people to think it was original with him. One source even claims that Wilde said this about the Finnish city of Oulu, not the U.S. 

pimpingpawnage you are certainly the most unsarcastic person in here, and i know you don't mean to give people the wrong impression. i understand that now :-) did you build that lego model yourself, it's good.

Yep, took me ages as well, what you can't see in the picture though, is the attention to detail, the wheelchair is motorised, and i even put in a little speaker that makes the little fella talk robot and everything

Very true Art. If you could care less, then you must at least care somewhat to begin with. :)