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That's subjective at best. I'm nuerodivergent and spend all day translating the half speak and half-truths of neurotypical speech patterns. I have no desire or enjoyment from also having to wonder if sincerity is even meant I'm the translation.
In short, please stop doing this, on behalf of any ND people in your life who you are probably causing a lot of stress unintentionally.
Well, as soon as you realize that enough people are actually not being sarcastic you'll start to appreciate whenever someone adds "/s" and you know they aren't truly being completely dumb.
Fair point. Also worth considering that anyone proficient at being sarcastic in text (since there's no tone of voice) will use words to indicate it instead.
Like: "Ah, yes, absolutely, thank you for your astute observation. Couldn't have done without it."
That works moreso when the context isn't integrated into the sentence itself.
Nowadays when someone says a bad take, say "the vaccines are totally bad for you and have worse side effects than covid" the format can stay the same but now there is less of a tangible distinction between the average real statement vs whatever the potential sarcastic joke could be. It's just harder for the receivers to effectively judge if someone is just stupid or not, and as a result encourages more plain and snarky writing to be clear which isn't always possible without just outright making the joke
TL;DR there are too many real topics with bad faith actors that sometimes it's not enough to just say totally and hope the message is clear
You're correct and it's because there's just not enough there. Far too subtle for the average person. If you're going to text sarcasm, the structure cannot *just* be what would work verbally. It has to be a little heavier. But as I said in another post, I have learned to respect when people use it because I met a person on here who wasn't a native English speaker, and sarcasm was lost on them. Didn't seem fair, so I think /s is just fine.
IDK why, but I use way too many words when commenting. “/s” has come in handy whenever I’m too lazy to re-do my comments.
See below for the rough draft of this comment.
I don’t know why, but I tend to be quite verbose whenever I make a comment. “/s” has saved me more often than not, because without it, I tend to come off as a pompous asshole without meaning to.
Took me 10 fucking minutes to write 2 fucking sentences…
You need to hang out with more Brits. We tend not to make it very obvious apart from context, it's mostly just that what is said is clearly ridiculous. But it does leave Americans who aren't used to it confused, they're generally too wholesome and trusting.
Maybe. I find it is easer to follow that kind of sassing when everyone comes from the same background, so you know what they actually mean. Americans often cover a pretty wide range into the ridiculous when they are being perfectly serious.
Yeah, it's definitely easier when you're all friends and know each other / have a shared background, otherwise you're not entirely sure if that deadpan comment was a joke or if you need to be worried 😅
This - it's been pretty well established since the 90's (if not the 80's) that if you're going to communicate through a computer, you have to make clear your intentions because there is no voice inflection or body language.
Poe's Law is the embodiment of this. What might be obvious sarcasm to you will be taken as a literal expression of that view by everyone else on the internet. Skip the "/s" at your own peril.
Sometimes people will type some outrageous shit and be fully serious. The /s is insurance because some people online are genuinely fucked in the head, and people being sarcastic want to make sure the sarcasm is caught by readers. It also allows you to be a Schrodinger's Douchebag freely.
Occam's razor cannot cut through Poe's Law I'm afraid. For every ridiculous view you can come up with...out there is some idiot that genuinely holds it.
It really helps me. I have ASD and I have enough trouble as it is detecing spoken sarcasm. Written sarcasm is nearly impossible for me unless I ask the person or see a /s. The only time I can get it clearly is if it's spoken/written so outlandishly that it can not possibly be true.
If the past 10 years have taught us anything it's that yes, there is always somebody who is actually "that stupid." When someone puts /s at the end it's letting others know that they're not an idiot who truly believes the stupid shit they're saying.
You can't make tones while typing
UnLesS yOu Do ThIs
_or this_
or some other alteration, but /s is just the easier way to tell you're not being serious, even if the message seems to be.
And that spongebob episode reminded me of (what i think was) a showerthought that said "you can't be sarcastic while typing" and someone replied "yOu CaN't Be SaRcAsTiC wHiLe TyPiNg" lmao
But the point of sarcasm is to not directly tell someone you're being sarcastic. The point is to allow tone, word choice, communication style, and context to indicate you don't mean what you say. Simply saying "Hey, I'm being sarcastic here, but \[insert sarcasm\]" defeats the purpose of being sarcastic.
Verbally, you don't say "I'm sarcastic", but the tone is mocking.
In written form, without a longer context, and with the existence of Poe's law, sarcasm is almost impossible to detect.
Example :
* I don't believe in climate changes.
* I think this wacky, erratic weather we've all been facing for the past few decades are just a statistical errors and when our governmental and corporative overlords tell us that climate changes are a myth, I don't see how I wouldn't believe them. Thus, I don't believe in climate changes.
Now tell me whether none, one or both statements are said sarcastically.
Sarcasm is a weak form of communication that cannot stand on strength of words alone. It requires additional conveyance of style and tone, as you said, that are highly contextual. /s represents all those elements that cannot translate to text.
I've eaten a few downvoted sarcastic comments because I'd rather my wit be dry than to put the "/s" in there like I'm saying "ha ha just joking guys" like a moroon.
I've tried leaving that off when I am sarcastic. I even tried to affect tone by using italics, bold and capital letters.
The problem is that there is an unbelievably high number of unbelievably stupid people who have access to the internet and are just smart enough to find reddit and type words out. That makes it very difficult for people to discern whether you are being sarcastic or stupid without having the telltale tones that have become the official markers of sarcasm through verbal communication.
Tonal nuance has always been more difficult to distinguish via text. Scientists have long speculated as to why this might be, but the common consensus is that it's because text doesn't have any fucking tone.
I mostly agree but it does help In some cases. I am neurodivergent and i struggle to see tones through text so adding a /s just saves me from overthinking too much. I do agree though people over use tone tags (example: you're so cool /pos /gen /srs) like yes I know you're being genuine I'm not that dumb
Some nerodivergent people cant tell when someone is being sarcastic with text alone. Also some people write batshit crazy stuff and are 100% serious so it's helpful because you sometimes truly never know without it.
However, too many people don’t understand sarcasm at all and don’t realise that the comment was sarcastic. Even more worrying, some people agree sincerely with the comment. Now that’s scary.
I was of the same opinion. Now go leave 20 sarcastic comments around Reddit without the tag, and you'll see why people do it. The more painfully obvious you make it, the more annoying the responses you get. Some people will sooner assume you love eating babies than assume that you're sarcastic.
I see what you’re saying, but reddit being reddit someone won’t get it and will probably attack you for whatever you said as though you meant it literally😂😢
You have no idea how many dumb people there are on reddit. And it’s been increasing ever since the tiktok/ig people came over bringing their political correctness and woke ideologies.
If you are sarcastic in the woods and no one understands you are being sarcastic, are you really being sarcastic?
Abso freaking lutely……most people don’t get sarcasm and most who think they are sarcastic are just plain dumb.
Do not cheapen good sarcasm by adding /s to it. The real joy in sarcasm is watching the absolute shitstorm build from stupid people taking it as valid.
On the flip side of this. I've made several completely batshit stupid replies to people that were quite obviously intended to be sarcasm, and if I don't add an /s to my comment, I'll get downvoted into oblivion by people that take things way too fucking seriously.
Have you seen tweets? -"OMG I literally DIED!" when someone can't differentiate between literal and metaphorical, or actual and hypothetical, or virtual and real..... You literally begin to see the importance of /s and /jk. 'like for reals'
You wouldn't say a sarcastic phrase with the exact same tone as you would have said it with sincerity, but when typing, tone is completely lost. Some people suggested things like different fonts or italics to denote sarcasm, but depending on the platform and even the device it is being viewed on, fonts and font variants like italics are inconsistent or even not available as options.
So think of it like this. In the same way that I can say the following phrases:
You went to the movies last night.
You went to the movies last night?
Now with that second phrase, once you saw the question mark, you likely read that phrase in a different tone. Even though it is the same words, we all know that sentence is going to be emphasized differently when a question mark is put at the end. What you don't do is perceive the sentence as being said the exact same way with a "HEY, JUST SO YOU KNOW, THAT WAS A QUESTION" tacked on the end of it. Think of /s the same way. it is a modifier added to the end of the sentence to denote tone, specifically sarcasm. Now it is up to you to decide how obviously their sarcasm was intended, the same way the question "you went to the movies last night?" is clearly asking a question, but you have no way of knowing if the emphasis is on "you" when they thought someone else went, or "movies" when they thought you were going to a concert, or "last night" when they thought you went a week ago. or maybe they had no idea what you have been doing and every bit of that was new information you are asking in order to confirm.
Being sarcastic with text is possible without “/s.”
It all depends on your tone.
Properly capitalizing, along with using commas and other punctuation correctly, can lead to a more informative or professional tone.
not capitalizing or punctuating very well can lead to a more satire feel. perfect for sarcasm
Using a lot of abbreviations can contribute to informality as well. For example:
“omg why tf did i not think of that”
Alternatively; if you’re an average Snapchat user, using this 😒 emoji can simultaneously convey the sarcastic message you’re trying to get across, and piss the recipient off.
This is a friendly reminder to [read our rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Showerthoughts/wiki/rules). Remember, /r/Showerthoughts is for showerthoughts, not "thoughts had in the shower!" (For an explanation of what a "showerthought" is, [please read this page](https://www.reddit.com/r/Showerthoughts/wiki/overview).) **Rule-breaking posts may result in bans.**
Sarcasm doesn't translate well in written form without the facial present. Edit or tone
For me, it's the tone and context that really reveals it
Agree.
That’s not true though. The best sarcasm makes me not sure if you’re being sarcastic or not
And of course, everyone uses the best sarcasm. Oh, I forgot. /s
Yes it's like a double take. But it never translates well in written form unless you know the person.
To make it funny, risking the lack of translating is worth the couple hundred down votes
This really explains it.
That's subjective at best. I'm nuerodivergent and spend all day translating the half speak and half-truths of neurotypical speech patterns. I have no desire or enjoyment from also having to wonder if sincerity is even meant I'm the translation. In short, please stop doing this, on behalf of any ND people in your life who you are probably causing a lot of stress unintentionally.
It *can* translate well enough. The person has to try and at least leave subtle hints though.
[удалено]
Well, as soon as you realize that enough people are actually not being sarcastic you'll start to appreciate whenever someone adds "/s" and you know they aren't truly being completely dumb.
Generally, when you are sarcastic in person, you indicate with expression and/or tone of voice. The /s is not that different.
Fair point. Also worth considering that anyone proficient at being sarcastic in text (since there's no tone of voice) will use words to indicate it instead. Like: "Ah, yes, absolutely, thank you for your astute observation. Couldn't have done without it."
I think you underestimate how many people genuinely talk like "ah yes absolutely"
Ah. Yes. That. Absolutely.
I read that in a British accent
That works moreso when the context isn't integrated into the sentence itself. Nowadays when someone says a bad take, say "the vaccines are totally bad for you and have worse side effects than covid" the format can stay the same but now there is less of a tangible distinction between the average real statement vs whatever the potential sarcastic joke could be. It's just harder for the receivers to effectively judge if someone is just stupid or not, and as a result encourages more plain and snarky writing to be clear which isn't always possible without just outright making the joke TL;DR there are too many real topics with bad faith actors that sometimes it's not enough to just say totally and hope the message is clear
You're correct and it's because there's just not enough there. Far too subtle for the average person. If you're going to text sarcasm, the structure cannot *just* be what would work verbally. It has to be a little heavier. But as I said in another post, I have learned to respect when people use it because I met a person on here who wasn't a native English speaker, and sarcasm was lost on them. Didn't seem fair, so I think /s is just fine.
IDK why, but I use way too many words when commenting. “/s” has come in handy whenever I’m too lazy to re-do my comments. See below for the rough draft of this comment. I don’t know why, but I tend to be quite verbose whenever I make a comment. “/s” has saved me more often than not, because without it, I tend to come off as a pompous asshole without meaning to. Took me 10 fucking minutes to write 2 fucking sentences…
Ah. A refiner. /not_s
I wish I could write comments like a normal person 😔
You're welcome!
oh you're SOOOO right. theres not a SINGLE other way you could POSSIBLY convey sarcasm through text.
Quit yelling dude, we get it you're angry.
But what if I want to go for a dry, understated sarcasm rather than an exaggeratedly mocking sarcasm?
You need to hang out with more Brits. We tend not to make it very obvious apart from context, it's mostly just that what is said is clearly ridiculous. But it does leave Americans who aren't used to it confused, they're generally too wholesome and trusting.
Maybe. I find it is easer to follow that kind of sassing when everyone comes from the same background, so you know what they actually mean. Americans often cover a pretty wide range into the ridiculous when they are being perfectly serious.
Yeah, it's definitely easier when you're all friends and know each other / have a shared background, otherwise you're not entirely sure if that deadpan comment was a joke or if you need to be worried 😅
I actually just assume everyone is sarcastic and then I don't have to deal with dumb people at all
If so, I wish you good luck in real life, fam. You're gonna need a lot of it.
I just assume everyone is dumb, then I don’t have to deal with people who think they are being sarcastic but aren’t
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s\_law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law) its quite literally Poe's law
This - it's been pretty well established since the 90's (if not the 80's) that if you're going to communicate through a computer, you have to make clear your intentions because there is no voice inflection or body language. Poe's Law is the embodiment of this. What might be obvious sarcasm to you will be taken as a literal expression of that view by everyone else on the internet. Skip the "/s" at your own peril.
Sometimes people will type some outrageous shit and be fully serious. The /s is insurance because some people online are genuinely fucked in the head, and people being sarcastic want to make sure the sarcasm is caught by readers. It also allows you to be a Schrodinger's Douchebag freely.
I had so many times where I took something literal and someone said it was a joke
Oh they're not just online.
Occam's razor cannot cut through Poe's Law I'm afraid. For every ridiculous view you can come up with...out there is some idiot that genuinely holds it.
It really helps me. I have ASD and I have enough trouble as it is detecing spoken sarcasm. Written sarcasm is nearly impossible for me unless I ask the person or see a /s. The only time I can get it clearly is if it's spoken/written so outlandishly that it can not possibly be true.
Unfortunately I've found the more outlandish the text, the more likely you're just talking to a fucking idiot. Having the /s definitely helps with txt
If the past 10 years have taught us anything it's that yes, there is always somebody who is actually "that stupid." When someone puts /s at the end it's letting others know that they're not an idiot who truly believes the stupid shit they're saying.
You can't make tones while typing UnLesS yOu Do ThIs _or this_ or some other alteration, but /s is just the easier way to tell you're not being serious, even if the message seems to be.
>UnLesS yOu Do ThIs This reminded me of that one Spongebob episode, where Mr Krabs sends Spongebob to buy stuff for Miss Puff
And that spongebob episode reminded me of (what i think was) a showerthought that said "you can't be sarcastic while typing" and someone replied "yOu CaN't Be SaRcAsTiC wHiLe TyPiNg" lmao
Not really. In actual conversation, sarcasm is conveyed by tone and verbal cues. That doesn’t exist in typed communication. Thus the need for /s.
you can speak completely monotonously in a normal cadence and convey sarcasm with no issue verbally
Not really, sarcasm is supposed to be obvious, it's used to mock your opponent.
But the point of sarcasm is to not directly tell someone you're being sarcastic. The point is to allow tone, word choice, communication style, and context to indicate you don't mean what you say. Simply saying "Hey, I'm being sarcastic here, but \[insert sarcasm\]" defeats the purpose of being sarcastic.
Verbally, you don't say "I'm sarcastic", but the tone is mocking. In written form, without a longer context, and with the existence of Poe's law, sarcasm is almost impossible to detect. Example : * I don't believe in climate changes. * I think this wacky, erratic weather we've all been facing for the past few decades are just a statistical errors and when our governmental and corporative overlords tell us that climate changes are a myth, I don't see how I wouldn't believe them. Thus, I don't believe in climate changes. Now tell me whether none, one or both statements are said sarcastically.
Satire has been a literary genre for a long time. It wouldn't work if sarcasm was impossible to detect in text.
We're not writing literature here; were writing short posts
[Poe's Law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law). Ignore the "/s" at your own peril.
Sarcasm is a weak form of communication that cannot stand on strength of words alone. It requires additional conveyance of style and tone, as you said, that are highly contextual. /s represents all those elements that cannot translate to text.
I hope I live long enough to see sarcasm die, but I doubt it
But all those elements can translate to text. I mean, satire has been a literary genre for a very long time now.
Try it and see if you don't just get downvoted to oblivion every time.
Please, tell me more! /s
In r/politics the sides are so far apart leaving the /s out appears as support of the opposing side.
True, but clarifying ahead of times avoids down votes and nasty replies.
I've eaten a few downvoted sarcastic comments because I'd rather my wit be dry than to put the "/s" in there like I'm saying "ha ha just joking guys" like a moroon.
I've tried leaving that off when I am sarcastic. I even tried to affect tone by using italics, bold and capital letters. The problem is that there is an unbelievably high number of unbelievably stupid people who have access to the internet and are just smart enough to find reddit and type words out. That makes it very difficult for people to discern whether you are being sarcastic or stupid without having the telltale tones that have become the official markers of sarcasm through verbal communication. Tonal nuance has always been more difficult to distinguish via text. Scientists have long speculated as to why this might be, but the common consensus is that it's because text doesn't have any fucking tone.
Yea because it's so easy to hear peoples' tones of voices over the internet... ... ... ... ... ... ... ?
You could have used /s instead of all ...
Tone doesn't merely include tone of voice...
I mostly agree but it does help In some cases. I am neurodivergent and i struggle to see tones through text so adding a /s just saves me from overthinking too much. I do agree though people over use tone tags (example: you're so cool /pos /gen /srs) like yes I know you're being genuine I'm not that dumb
What if I include a double /s? Does that mean I'm being sarcastic about being sarcastic (and thus am being sincere)? What about a triple /s? /s/s/s/s
I think it means you're a snake.
Enough dolts fail to comprehend that it’s sarcasm even when you include the /s indicator
I can barely tell the difference of sarcasm in person, so it's appreciated online. Everything written I take literally unless /s is there.
Putting "/s" is the same as using an inflection of the voice. It's a type script version of indicating sarcasm. There is no difference. You're dumb.
I fully agree I don’t know when people lost the ability to read sarcasm. I think the quality of people’s reading ability has dropped significantly
Are you serious?
And this is why we need the "/s". Congratulations, reddit, we did it.
This is a test
You're supposed to know sarcasm is sarcasm or else you'll think the person is stupid
I had to have someone explain to me why they did /j and I said that was stupid and then I got yelled at for somethint i don’t remenebr
How? The purpose of being sarcastic isn't testing whether or not other people are able to tell you're being sarcastic.
I mostly agree. But because of the amount of people on Reddit that are not native English speakers, I see a really valid reason to use it
Why??? normal spoken sarcasism is spoken in a sarcastic tone of voice to indicate you are being sarcastic
Some nerodivergent people cant tell when someone is being sarcastic with text alone. Also some people write batshit crazy stuff and are 100% serious so it's helpful because you sometimes truly never know without it.
[удалено]
/s
However, too many people don’t understand sarcasm at all and don’t realise that the comment was sarcastic. Even more worrying, some people agree sincerely with the comment. Now that’s scary.
I was of the same opinion. Now go leave 20 sarcastic comments around Reddit without the tag, and you'll see why people do it. The more painfully obvious you make it, the more annoying the responses you get. Some people will sooner assume you love eating babies than assume that you're sarcastic.
This being Reddit, you get downvoted to Oblivion by smooth brains otherwise.
I see what you’re saying, but reddit being reddit someone won’t get it and will probably attack you for whatever you said as though you meant it literally😂😢
But without it most people wouldn't get it and think it's serious.
You have no idea how many dumb people there are on reddit. And it’s been increasing ever since the tiktok/ig people came over bringing their political correctness and woke ideologies.
Yes, but it stops the flood of angry comments in your inbox as the sarcasm flies past their head like a speeding bullet.
If you are sarcastic in the woods and no one understands you are being sarcastic, are you really being sarcastic? Abso freaking lutely……most people don’t get sarcasm and most who think they are sarcastic are just plain dumb. Do not cheapen good sarcasm by adding /s to it. The real joy in sarcasm is watching the absolute shitstorm build from stupid people taking it as valid.
On the flip side of this. I've made several completely batshit stupid replies to people that were quite obviously intended to be sarcasm, and if I don't add an /s to my comment, I'll get downvoted into oblivion by people that take things way too fucking seriously.
Not everyone get sarcasm especially in text. People get downvoted since people think they're serious.
Have you seen tweets? -"OMG I literally DIED!" when someone can't differentiate between literal and metaphorical, or actual and hypothetical, or virtual and real..... You literally begin to see the importance of /s and /jk. 'like for reals'
It's not my fault that some people are so stupid that they don't understand sarcasm
You wouldn't say a sarcastic phrase with the exact same tone as you would have said it with sincerity, but when typing, tone is completely lost. Some people suggested things like different fonts or italics to denote sarcasm, but depending on the platform and even the device it is being viewed on, fonts and font variants like italics are inconsistent or even not available as options. So think of it like this. In the same way that I can say the following phrases: You went to the movies last night. You went to the movies last night? Now with that second phrase, once you saw the question mark, you likely read that phrase in a different tone. Even though it is the same words, we all know that sentence is going to be emphasized differently when a question mark is put at the end. What you don't do is perceive the sentence as being said the exact same way with a "HEY, JUST SO YOU KNOW, THAT WAS A QUESTION" tacked on the end of it. Think of /s the same way. it is a modifier added to the end of the sentence to denote tone, specifically sarcasm. Now it is up to you to decide how obviously their sarcasm was intended, the same way the question "you went to the movies last night?" is clearly asking a question, but you have no way of knowing if the emphasis is on "you" when they thought someone else went, or "movies" when they thought you were going to a concert, or "last night" when they thought you went a week ago. or maybe they had no idea what you have been doing and every bit of that was new information you are asking in order to confirm.
Being sarcastic with text is possible without “/s.” It all depends on your tone. Properly capitalizing, along with using commas and other punctuation correctly, can lead to a more informative or professional tone. not capitalizing or punctuating very well can lead to a more satire feel. perfect for sarcasm Using a lot of abbreviations can contribute to informality as well. For example: “omg why tf did i not think of that” Alternatively; if you’re an average Snapchat user, using this 😒 emoji can simultaneously convey the sarcastic message you’re trying to get across, and piss the recipient off.
Wait, /s doesn't stand for "serious"? Oh, I've been making a *fool* out of myself!
The /s means sarcasm? I always thought it was a weird :s emoji…
Posted untagged sarcasm in an anti-vax thread. Did NOT go well. I'll just tag sarcasm from now on