On: Why the British Are Better at Satire

[aptwebapps]

In America sarcasm in speech is usually heavily signaled via the tone of voice. You don't usually just drop it in deadpan. So it's not so much that we don't get sarcasm or satire but we're used to having it more clearly demarcated. At least in speech - satire is quite popular and common in print.

[maxerickson → aptwebapps]

What you describe is arguably a symptom of people not getting sarcasm. People that enjoy sarcasm have learned the hard lesson that the average listener is oblivious to it, so they talk funny to help them out a little bit.

[aptwebapps → maxerickson]

That might have been the genesis, but it's now continuing on its own.

[maxerickson → aptwebapps]

I'm sort of implicitly arguing there that talking funny isn't sarcasm anymore. Much of the fun of sarcasm is in the subtlety.

[aptwebapps → maxerickson]

It's certainly not the same thing, and I prefer the subtle stuff myself, but both types are sarcasm.