Comments for blog.limedaley.com/post/the-animals-speak-a-foreign-language

Comment #554

2005-10-30T11:40:48Z

I didn't think so either, but that would explain why sarcasm has a negative association in my mind that irony doesn't.

Comment #553

2005-10-30T02:47:29Z

Heather and I were not able to explain the difference well, so went to google/answers.com to see what they had to say. This quote from wikipedia is probably the best/most relevant to this discussion:

[Sarcasm] is often misused as a synonym for irony. Irony refers however to the literal meaning and the intended meaning of the words uttered being different, while sarcasm refers to the mocking intent of the utterance. It is possible to be ironic without being sarcastic, and to be sarcastic without being ironic.

I wouldn't have thought sarcasm had to be mocking or "often intended to wound" (American Heritage Dictionary)

Comment #552

2005-10-29T23:58:40Z

The difference between sarcasm and irony is one that still confuses me. I thought that the example above was sarcasm (maybe since I'm your daughter) but I've been later corrected in that it is actually irony - saying the opposite of what you mean. Yet I still here them used in different ways. Can anyone enlighten me?

Comment #551

2005-10-28T13:06:29Z

It's amazing how often children like to play the "I know the right answer but I'm going to have fun by giving the wrong one" game. In an adult we call that sarcasm consider it a sophisticated form of humor. Though in adults sarcasm is often nasty, and children haven't learned that yet.