Would sarcastic or satirical intent be better communicated on the InterTubes if we had access to backward-italic sarcastic fonts?
From the Sarcastic Font Manifesto:
For too long e-mails, instant messages, web pages and documents have been unable to fully communicate the subtleties of sarcasm. Text delivered without intonation fail to represent the rare form of language where the intended meaning is the opposite of the written word.
Over the internet we yell at each other with ALL CAPS and emphasize with bold and italics, but where is sarcasm? Where is the nuance, the elegance? We say it is time for a change. It's time for a revolution. It's time for a new font style....
(tip: Daniel Oxenhandler)
Where do I join?
Nice post Jim. Really. The best.
JE: That's it! That's the font!
will her mother have a cow!?!...
I say yes, bout time someone fixed this "problem"
I'll sleep easy tonight knowing someone is at last looking into this scourge of the world wide web.
The font might help - but then, it would ruin the point of the sarcasm, often. A lot of times, you want the irony left in there. I'd be afraid people will really turn off their sarcasm meters then - and just assume that *any* sarcasm has that font, and really not notice when someone is trying to be snarky or whatever.
Of course, "sarcastica" sounds a bit too much like "swastika" for my tastes anyway :)
The problem is, people who are being REALLY sarcastic simply won't use this font.
I genuinely like that!
Another proposal I'd come across is the "Irony mark," basically a backwards question mark; see the Wikipedia article (the article does have sources).
;-) :-> :-[ are elsewhere also described as denoting sarcasm, but meaning other things too, rendering them not particularly useful (and are lacking a certain seriousness that backwards italics or question marks have to a greater degree).
Sarcasm loses all power when it is obvious. And there is a difference between simple sarcasm and multilayered sarcasm. So the font would be both abused and inadequate. Much like my good friend Jason Spiro.
While it sounds like a valid idea, we must not forget that great print satirists existed before the advent of internet. "A Modest Proposal" needed no saracasm font (unless it was to satiate the unbelievably stupid- I still find the claim people actually took the essay at face value upon its release dubious). The sarcasm font won't bestow the ability to comprehend nuance or irony. There ain't no cure for stupid.
(let me preempt anyone whose going to call me an elitist for that last sentence: I am so deal with it. Let's everyone make a stand right now and vow not to be bullied into accepting stupidity).
It would be better if we could find a way to send actual physical abuse over the internet. Then whenever somebody just didn't get it, we could send him a dope slap.
Well this easy. It's the sarcasm tag: <sarcasm> </sarcasm>
Modern browsers that follow HTML5 convention will correctly interpret the sarcasm tag.
<sarcasm>Seriously.</sarcasm>
I've been wanting this for years. It would have saved weeks and weeks of headaches.
I think that the idea is interesting, sure. If I recall correctly there was an article you wrote about another article that likened 'The Dark Knight' to some sort of love letter to capitalism. It was definitely a sarcastic piece but I was almost certain you were trying to pull through on your assessment of 'The Dark Knight' being great but not THAT great.
But, there's something to be said about being either ignorant, or having missed some key tones in the writing itself. If read carefully, sarcasm can most definitely be read without having to put up a sarcastic "red flag" in order to tell people, "And here is where the sarcasm starts." In my case, it was my own fault for not reading deep enough into the text and catching the tone of the article. But these things happen.
I'm tired of anonymous posting online as well. Post your age, picture, favorite movie and the current book you're reading. It would save me from reading soo many posts.
age- 13
picture- . (from space)
favorite movie- Slumdog Millionaire
Current book- Readers Digest
Like so much of internet communication this would simultaneously helpful and teeth grindingly annoying. In the office, where misinterptreted correspondence can have dreadful results, this font would definitely help with those co-workers who can't recognise a line between personal communications and professional communications. The kinds of discussions we used to have face to face around the office about how to address the issues/customers/bosses of the day would have had their share of sarcasm. This was a much needed outlet from the constant pressure to present a profesional face, but was easily interpreted, and in the case of someone crossing the line, the foul was instantaneously recognised, mitigated and moved on from. Personal use of text based sarcasm used in facebook status updates and twitter musings, where the stakes are arguably lower or at least contained to one's own social circle, isnt't exacly a scourge. At the workplace, the necessary outlet valve that sarcasm provides is creeping into company memos and emails where it is unexpected an potentially career limiting if misunderstood. While I would welcome this font at work, I fear shooting myself in the head if I had to endure backwards italicised LOLs at the end of every other sentence.
JE: LOLs scare me in any font.
Good God, why is anybody taking this seriously? Even mediocre writers don't need this kind of gimmick. This is, at best, one notch above the interrobang, and it's quite possibly below it. Throw it in a bag with the other stupid language fads, including genderless pronouns, and let it die the death it deserves to die.
Wow - what a GREAT idea . . .