‘The car won’t start. Oh great!’ – Learn the language for being sarcastic.
William
Hello, and welcome to How To. I’m William Kremer.
EXAMPLE
Fi Glover
Now, Muriel do your children complain of having too much homework?
Muriel Gray
Oh, not at all Fi, they really love it!
William
I heard that exchange on the radio this morning and I wanted to play it to you. The presenter, Fi Glover, asks her guest, Muriel Gray, if her kids complained about having too much homework.
EXAMPLE
Fi Glover
Now, Muriel do your children complain of having too much homework?
Muriel Gray
Oh, not at all Fi, they really love it!
William
Everyone’s children complain about having too much homework! But Muriel says, Not at all! Fi, they really love it!
When we say the opposite of the truth, or the opposite of our true feelings in order to be funny or to make a point, we call that sarcasm. Muriel Gray is being sarcastic.
EXAMPLE
Muriel Gray
Oh, not at all Fi, they really love it!
William
Some cultures don’t have sarcasm: honest people always say what they mean. Believe me, Britain isn’t one of those cultures. Here, people very often speak in a sarcastic or an ironic way.
Indeed, some people think it’s one of the main characteristics of our way of seeing the world.
Now, there are basically two rules to being sarcastic.
Rule number one: say the opposite of the truth or the opposite of what you really feel.
Rule number two: make sure that your conversation partner knows you’re being sarcastic.
This is the difference between being sarcastic and lying: sarcasm is actually a way of showing your true feelings about something.
OK, let’s hear some examples. Who is being sarcastic in this clip – the man or the woman?
EXAMPLE
Woman
John, the car won’t start!
Man
Oh great! That’s just what we need.
William
The man is being sarcastic. Listen again:
EXAMPLE
Woman
John, the car won’t start!
Man
Oh great! That’s just what we need.
William
When the woman tells him that their car won’t start he says, Oh great! That’s just what we need.
EXAMPLE
Oh great! That’s just what we need.
William
Notice that this man doesn’t say, Good, that’s what we need, but, Oh great! That’s just what we need! The use of the words great and just adds emphasis, and so does his marked intonation – that’s just what we need.
Remember that we want our conversation partner to know we’re being sarcastic, and one way to do this is to exaggerate our feelings.
So, if somebody gives you some bad news, and you want to be sarcastic, don’t say, Good, or, That’s good news, but really go for it: say, Oh terrific! or maybe, Oh brilliant – that’s great news!
Let’s listen to some more examples. These two women work in the same office with a third woman called Karen. It’s ten o’clock in the morning and Karen hasn’t arrived at work yet, but then she is late every day.
EXAMPLE
Woman 1
[It] looks like Karen’s going to be late again.
Woman 2
Oh, what a surprise.
William
The second woman says, Oh, what a surprise, but of course it isn’t a surprise at all, because Karen is late every day. Listen again.
EXAMPLE
Woman 1
[It] looks like Karen’s going to be late again.
Woman 2
Oh, what a surprise.
William
Now listen to this clip. The woman has just broken something.
EXAMPLE
Woman
Sorry, I think I’ve broken it.
Man
Oh, well done! Pass it over here.
William
The man says, Well done, to the woman for breaking this thing.
EXAMPLE
Oh, well done! Pass it over here.
William
And this raises an important point about sarcasm. It’s sometimes not very nice to be sarcastic to a person. You’re turning another person’s words or actions into a joke, so you should think, carefully, about when to be sarcastic and with whom to be sarcastic.
And I repeat: it’s important that the other person knows you’re being sarcastic. In the next clip, you’ll hear one way of making sure that someone knows:
EXAMPLE
Woman 1
I’ll just have a coffee. I’m trying to lose weight, actually.
Woman 2
Yeah, ’cause you’re so fat, aren’t you? No, I’m just kidding, just kidding!
William
The second speaker was making the point that the first speaker didn’t need to lose weight by sarcastically saying, You’re so fat!
EXAMPLE
Woman 1
I’ll just have a coffee. I’m trying to lose weight, actually.
Woman 2
Yeah, ’cause you’re so fat, aren’t you? No, I’m just kidding, just kidding!
William
She says, I’m just kidding! which means ‘I’m joking’.
So, you need to be careful how you use sarcasm but sarcasm can be funny. This man is talking about waiting in queues, or waiting in line – something that we Brits are very famous for:
EXAMPLE
It’s a well-known fact that the British love waiting in queues. And, that’s true: I mean, I do it whenever I can.
William
Listen again.
EXAMPLE
It’s a well-known fact that the British love waiting in queues. And, that’s true: I mean, I do it whenever I can.
William
Now you can hear those clips again, and also hear some more examples of sarcasm on the How To webpage on www.bbc-story.com. Goodbye.
People are sarcastic when they say the opposite of the truth, or the opposite of their true feelings, in order to be funny or to make a point.
It is often thought that along with drinking tea and waiting in queues, the British have a fondness for sarcasm.
Some common examples of sarcasm
Remember to judge when and with whom to be sarcastic – you can offend people with inappropriate use of this language.
After something bad or annoying happens
- Oh terrific / great / brilliant! That’s just what I need.
- After something unsurprising happens.
- Well what a surprise!
After somebody makes a mistake
- Oh nice one!
- Oh well done!
After someone says something obvious
- No?! Really?
- You’re quick!
- You’re clever!
The language of sarcasm
There are no fixed rules about what language to use when being sarcastic, but the following features are quite common (remember – this language is used when people aren’t being sarcastic too!):
Tag questions
- Of course, you’re the real expert at driving, aren’t you?
Yes + because
You can use this to disagree or argue with someone by seeming to agree:
- A: Slow down! You’re driving too fast!
- B: Yeah right, ’cause you never drive too fast, do you?
I forgot
- A: Slow down! You’re driving too fast!
- B: Sorry, I forgot you were the expert driver! How many times have you crashed in the last year?
If + must
- Well, if you read it on the Internet it must be true!
Make it clear that you are being sarcastic
It’s really important that your conversation partner realises that you are being sarcastic. Here are a couple of ways of doing this
Exaggeration
Exaggerate your feelings using strong words and a lively intonation. So if something bad happens, instead of saying:
- Good. I’m glad that’s happened.
Try:
- Great! That’s just what we need!
Old-fashioned English
People will also sometimes use old-fashioned English to exaggerate:
- Gosh, you’re quick!
- I say! That’s a surprise!
Being clear
Sometimes, the situation will make it obvious that you are being sarcastic and you don’t need to worry about people misunderstanding you. But if you are worried that people might misunderstand you, then after your sarcastic comment, say:
- Just kidding!
- I’m only joking!
- I’m sorry! I’m just being sarcastic.
Writing sarcasm
If you want to be sarcastic in writing (for example in an email), try putting an exclamation mark in brackets after your sarcastic comment, like this:
- So then we visited an enormous steam train museum, and you can just imagine what fun that was(!)