Sarcasm
Sarcasm is "a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter gibe or taunt." Sarcasm may employ ambivalence, although sarcasm is not necessarily ironic. "The distinctive quality of sarcasm is present in the spoken word and manifested chiefly by vocal inflections". The sarcastic content of a statement will be dependent upon the context in which it appears.
Origin of the term
The word comes from the Greek σα"κασμός (sarkasmós) which is taken from σα"κάζειν (sarkázein) meaning "to tear flesh, bite the lip in rage, sneer".
It is first recorded in English in 1579, in an annotation to "The Shepheardes Calender" by Edmund Spenser:
- Tom piper, an ironicall Sarcasmus, spoken in derision of these rude wits, whych ...
However, the word sarcastic, meaning "Characterized by or involving sarcasm; given to the use of sarcasm; bitterly cutting or caustic", doesn't appear until 1695.
See also [ Tongue-in-cheek ]
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