On the first day of my new job, I was asked this question.
Is sarcasm lost upon deaf people?
I’d never been stumped by such a question.
I wasn’t offended by it. I think she was skeptical of asking me such a question because it could mean that I (as a deaf person) don’t have a sense of humor. but not so. I think she was curious mainly because sarcasm is noted by the tone of someone’s voice.
But I found it to be an interesting question & I answered tentatively, saying, yeah I do think sarcasm is lost upon deaf people. Without offending anyone, it doesn’t mean I don’t think we have a good grasp on sarcasm, I just think it’s harder for us to note when someone is being sarcastic.
the way she asked it, I think she meant by a hearing person speaking to a deaf person. Because I know we understand and grasp sarcasm when it is written or expressed to one another. I think it’s usually lost between a hearing & a deaf person, particularly if you can’t hear the person’s tone.
It’s interesting because a guy I work with is very sarcastic about 90 percent of the time. And it is hard to tell when he’s being sarcastic or not because he speaks in one tone the entire time & I’ll sit there smiling because i really think he’s kidding, and he’ll note that he’s not kidding, but I’m still smiling because I stillthink he’s kidding. then he’ll eventually tell me that he’s kidding. And it’s really hard to tell because he speaks in one tone and he does it entirely on purpose.
I’m still not sure of the answer even though I did tell her yes, but I want to know how do you express sarcasm & how do you receive it.
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Sarcasm, huh? What?
:)
I have never met this girl. No, seriously. Never.
Erin — I’ve had that problem; I usually get the sarcasm, but not always. I have one guy friend who is sarcastic 99% of the time (and he’ll admit it!) so I always take everything he says with a grain of salt.
But what’s interesting is that I have a much harder time picking up on sarcasm in IM messages — there’s no way to figure out facial expression or body language or tone of voice (with the residual hearing I have, which ain’t much) … and someone will say something that sounds so serious and I take it to be, and then later am told that person was kidding. Hmm… we need video IM! (better quality than what’s available now). So if sarcasm is lost on me during IM convos, it could easily be lost on hearing ppl as well.
And now, i’m heading out to horribly hate this miserable day. ;-)
Sarcasm is a cultural thing; it, and irony, are represented differently in different cultures and often depend on referents we don’t totally understand.
Anyone seen Princess Mononoke? In the book “Hanging out with the Dream King,” Neil Gaiman discusses how he translated the script for Mononoke into english. Usually, he said, they would do a simple word-for-word translation with anime. Not for Mononoke: Gaiman wanted all of the missing elements to be visible. He wanted all of the cultural referents for Japan to be available for American viewers.
Why do I mention this? Because he described one scene where the main character shaved his hair. And unless you understand what it means in Japan for someone to shave their hair, you fail to understand the irony of that scene. So Gaiman worked a line into the movie where they made reference to whoever it was in Japanese history that cut off their hair, and suddenly the meaning was clear.
Context and culture. Of course hearing people completely miss out on Deaf sarcasm, such as when I comment on certain friends of mine not leaving tips.
In ASL, sarcasm works as well as it does in any other language. It does seem lost when we take note of the considerable difference that exists between ASL and its written counterpart English. For example, a person signing the language just as it is written runs the risk of “speaking like a book.” Look at http://www.9thprez.com and realize how bookish it is to do script reading and how sarcasm is non-existent.
Erin, on the contrary, sarcasm is lost upon countless hearing people too. As a former staff of the community, Neowin.net, the sarcastic comments often were lost upon hearing members. It is, sadly, common among hearing people.
Actually if you were referring to ‘in person’, and then it would be a different story. Nevertheless, you’re right about the tones.
But wait… were you being sarcastic when you created this ’sarcasm-related’ topic? ;)
TGIF
Deaf people confuse sarcasm with cruelty. I guess when you’ve been sh*t on your whole life like deaf people, the line between sarcasm and cruelty gets blurred too. 2 wrongs make a right?
Got this in the email a while ago… I think it is funny, but wonder if the majority of the deaf people will get the jokes? (mostly word plays). Maybe they do have jokes like this in ASL (based on how they’re signed?)
1. A bicycle can’t stand alone; it is two tired.
2. A will is a dead giveaway.
3. Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.
4. A backward poet writes inverse.
5. In a democracy it’s your vote that counts; in feudalism, it’s your Count that votes.
6. A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.
7. If you don’t pay your exorcist you may be repossessed.
8. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
9. Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I’ll show you A-flat miner.
10. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
11. The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.
12. A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France resulting in Linoleum Blownapart.
13. You are stuck with your debt if you can’t budge it.
14. Local Area Network in Australia: The LAN down under.
15. He broke into song because he couldn’t find the key.
16. A calendar’s days are numbered.
17. A lot of money is tainted: ‘Taint yours, and ‘taint mine’.
18. A boiled egg is hard to beat.
19. He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
20. A plateau is a high form of flattery.
21. The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison: a small medium at large.
22. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
23. When you’ve seen one shopping center you’ve seen a mall.
24. If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine.
25. When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she’d dye.
26. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
27. Santa’s helpers are subordinate clauses.
28. Acupuncture: a jab well done.
29. Marathon runners with bad shoes suffer the agony of de feet.
I notice that many deaf people nowaday, especially the DC area, have no clues about sacarasm or witty comments.
Some deaf and hearing people misunderstood me because they really were not fluent at facial expressions like “eyebrow wiggles” and “smile” and “eye pops” at same time or with “smirk”. Same thing with the “eye rollings in disbelief” or “sigh”.
Maybe they think you’re trying to hit on them with all that eyebrow wiggles and smiles.
Well, sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between when someone is joking and being sarcastic. I don’t think it’s the tones alone. Sacrasm can be used to voice the harsh words. Either ones or both can shatter your feelings. An example of sarcastic phrase is like “Well, I’m sorry I’m not perfect like you.” I may feel offended by that remark. I’m deaf myself and I can understand this remark. I’m sure you can. Another example, if he says to you, “Oh, I forgot how lucky to have you as my wife,” how would you feel? Some indiviudals may or may not grasp sarcastic remarks. It has nothing to do with the tones alone. Like mentioned in other comments, hearing people can feel lost by sarcasm.