Sarcasm

As I have explored the internets, I have come across something very interesting: the use of sarcasm. Sarcasm is something you come across every day in the real world, and is the basis for a large amount of humorous things that people say.

But when it comes to the written word, including what is published online, using sarcasm effectively is very difficult. Even for a talented writer who can invoke many complex emotions in his reader, sarcasm is generally avoided because it requires hearing tone of voice to be correctly interpreted.

However, as I was reading some blogs online, I discovered that many humorous writers have devised a simple way to bypass all the confusion of written sarcasm. They call it the "sarcasm hand." Whenever the writer say something sarcastic, at the end of the sentence they write in parentheses, "sarcasm hand raised."

This phrase is more often than not manipulated so it can describe the level of sarcasm used. I shall try to demonstrate.

Sardines are SOOO good. (Sarcasm hand.)

I can't wait for finals week! (Hand raised so high my fingers just brushed the underside of a flying commercial jet.)

The Twilight series is extremely well written, the characters are well developed and consistent, the plot keeps you guessing, and the relationships are a good model of what a healthy relationship should be like. (Sarcasm hand raised so high I just made a shadow puppet on the face of Pluto.)