Don't Be Sarcastic
You’ve probably been told to “watch your tone.” On the surface, this seems easy. Avoid coarse language and profane jokes — and don’t raise your voice! Yet, there’s a form of tone-deafness that is all too common: sarcasm.
For some of us, sarcasm is a sixth love language. Maybe you show your friends you care by literally telling them that you couldn’t care less. We play off sarcastic comments as “just a joke” without deeply considering the tone we’re setting.
Sarcasm is more spiky and confrontational than you might think. The word “sarcasm” originally comes from the Greek sarkazein, meaning “to tear the flesh off.” The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines sarcasm as “a sharp and ironic utterance designed to cut or give pain.” What you think is a joke might come off as a jab.
Sarcasm is a tricky thing in face-to-face conversations, and it’s nearly impossible to do well in writing — without body-language queues, like a wink of assurance, to let your reader know it’s “just a joke.”
In literature, what we often think of as sarcasm is actually satire. Satire uses wit and irony to expose truth, while sarcasm is hostility masquerading as humor. When George Orwell compares Stalin to a pig — that’s satire. When Tina Fey and Amy Poehler cold-open SNL as Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton — that’s satire.
Unlike sarcasm, satire isn’t designed to “tear the flesh off” your reader. It’s designed to make your reader think (and laugh). Great writers use satire — not sarcasm — to reveal profound truths or absurdities about the world and society. Only with satire can writers strike the right tone for these thoughtful critiques.
Satire is earnest and considered. Sarcasm is frivolous and flippant.
More than the words you write, your readers will remember how you make them feel. Your tone matters. It’s important to be satirical, not sarcastic.
