Title: Social Communication | Sarcasm
Headings: 
Features of Sarcasm
Sarcastic Tone of Voice
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Sarcastic Facial Expressions, Eye Rolls, and Postures
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Hyperbole in Sarcasm
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Sarcasm in Writing
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Polite (!) Uses of Sarcasm
More Aggressive Uses of Sarcasm
Using Sarcasm in an Argument
Using Sarcasm to Insult
Using Sarcasm to Establish Power Differences
Particular Phrases
Responding to Sarcasm
If you’re not sure whether or not a speaker is being sarcastic….
If the sarcasm is self-directed…
If the sarcasm expresses frustration with a situation
If the sarcasm is directed towards you
Exercises
Scholarly Sources
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Recommended Reading
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Content: Using Sarcasm to Insult
Saying sincerely “You’re an idiot” or “You’re stupid” would obviously be highly insulting. Saying sarcastically “You’re a GENius” is not much better, though people may use the “I was only joking” defense. But before you take offense, you might want to think about why someone is behaving this way. Someone may be using sarcasm to insult you to score points with other listeners, and doesn’t care about your feelings at all. For instance, the alpha male in a group may call out “Sweet ride!” to a total stranger driving an old, beat-up car. He doesn’t care if he hurts the stranger’s feelings — he’s just emphasizing to the other members of his group how “cool” he is (because he has the right to judge everyone else). Likewise, the popular middle-school girl who says to the unpopular girl “Ooh, I love your pants! Were they having a sale at Walmart?” is just trying to score points with her own crowd of friends — she doesn’t care if she hurts the feelings of the target.