If you think you are being funny…
you’re not.
“Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know.” ~ 1 Corinthians 8:2 NIV
The point at which the spirit of sarcasm becomes pure meanness and caustic, I believe, is in the the intimacy or the mutual respect department of a relationship.
Today, as has been my experience, the people who say they are sarcastic and who have a whole personality built around being sarcastic, neither are nor understand sarcasm. They think they are being funny…
they are not.
As ‘The Emerging Man’ I have jettisoned the attitude that, “I think I know”, because as the Bible has taught me and experience has confirmed the lesson, “I don’t know as I ought to know”.
Some people would say that I just have a thin skin when it comes to people being sarcastic to me.
I took a look at that statement and found what they viewed as being thin skinned I determined was actually a skill of discernment in spotting people’s characters that are flat out mean and arrogant and when I respond with some truth, the proof comes out in a poof!
Let’s look at where sarcasm comes from first.
Irony
resource: https://www.google.com/#q=definition+of+irony
-
the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result.a literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character’s words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character.
i·ro·ny2
of or like iron.
My take on the definition then leads me to believing that irony is truly sharp, but must be first and foremost, truly funny.
Irony then can be used intelligently with everyone if the user knows the definition and has a some type of mutual relationship with the intended target. Say for instance, “for instance”, a news reporter is talking to his best friend about say, his weight loss program, “his weight loss program”.
Example: His friend who works at McDonald’s says,
“Have you read this handout on weight loss, it is very informative?”
The reporter answers, “What is it, the McDonald’s Employee Handbook Health page?”
They are friends, they have a close relationship, they have mutual respect for one another, so yeah, his buddy got a couple of good rips in about his weight program, career choice and economic status, you know…
good buddies.
Then the reporter could turn and say the same thing to a McDonald’s executive, who being a professional would understand the reporters tactic and tact in using it and would roll with the punches and have some roundy-round, blah, blah, blah explanation on how, “people do not have to choose McDonald’s food but with over a billion served, can all those people be wrong?”
Of course they can.
Leave a Reply