Hello and welcome back to the Easy English Podcast.
And today we are tackling we're talking about a very interesting but difficult part of English language, and that is sarcasm.
Perhaps it's something that can be quite confusing for you, something that can be very hard for a lot of non-native speakers to understand, or at least to understand all of the time.
So sarcasm is when we say the opposite of what we actually mean.
And it is used constantly in TV, movies and general conversation, especially if you're in the UK.
I think that British sarcasm is very, very common, even more than the United States.
But I do think, once you're taking your English to the next level, sarcasm is essential to understand.
If you miss sarcasm often, you will miss the entire joke or, even worse, you completely misunderstand the other speaker and believe that they are saying something else.
So today we are going to try to master or understand a little bit better English sarcasm.
And we'll also look a little bit at why there are cultural reasons for sarcasm existing in the English language.
And I'm going to give you some clues, some tips on how to spot it, on how to see that it is sarcasm.
Okay, so we have, as always, five key new pieces of vocabulary for you to learn today.
And if you know them already, I want you to simply actively listen for these words in the episode.
But first, we have a lot of new listeners since even last week.
I think on Spotify, nearly a thousand new listeners in one week.
So if you're new, I want to make sure that you have rated the podcast five stars wherever you're listening.
And if you're a new listener, make sure that you're following and subscribed.
And I'll talk a little bit more in a while about some other ways that you can support the channel.
But first, let's have a look at our key vocabulary for today.
So get ready to learn some new words.
The first word is, of course, sarcasm.
Sarcasm.
And sarcasm is the use of words, so you're saying something that means the opposite of what is being said.
And this is often to make a joke, or even to express that you're a little bit annoyed about something.
Let's use the word in a sentence.
So he was using sarcasm when he said that he loves the rain.
The second word today is tone.
Tone.
And tone is a noun here.
And the tone is the attitude, or really the emotions, I guess the feelings that are conveyed by the way that someone speaks or writes.
You can think of the tone as the way that someone says something.
So not just what they're saying, but how they are saying it.
So often you have to pay attention to the speaker's tone, not just what they're saying.
The tone of their voice and how they speak will often tell you what they actually mean.
Okay, our third word is exaggeration.
Exaggeration.
A great word here, and it comes from the verb to exaggerate.
And an exaggeration is a statement that represents something as better or worse than it really is.
So you're exaggerating it.
You're making it seem either better or worse than it actually is.
For example, you might say, I am so cold that I
I could freeze to death.
But in reality, you're just very cold, but you're not going to freeze to death.
Or I'm so hungry.
I'm so hungry.
I'm dying.
But in reality, you just want to eat.
Those are exaggerations.
You are exaggerating.
Our fourth word today is literal.
Literal.
This is an adjective, and literal means taking words in their usual or most basic sense, without exaggeration.
So that would be when someone is being literal.
They're saying it without exaggeration.
Or you might say, don't take her statement literally.
She is exaggerating or she is using sarcasm.
And our final word, whew, these are hard ones today.
Our final word is ironic, ironic.
And this is an adjective as well.
And ironic means happening in a way that is contrary, so opposed or opposite to what is expected.
And often it can be quite funny that it's disappointing.
It's a hard one to understand, but I guess yeah, when it's ironic it's something that is happening in the opposite way to what is expected.
And it's often funny.
So, for example, you might say that it was ironic that the safety expert was clumsy.
So it was falling all over the place.
Or the safety expert was dangerous.
So the person that is meant to be helping you with safety, they are actually a danger.
That is ironic.
Okay, so those are our five words for today.
So, before we look at our main episode, I want to remind everyone that we have an Easy English Patreon.
Now the Patreon is growing quite fast and we have a lot more content on there than before.
We have lots of episodes on there.
And now every week there is a second episode of the Easy English Podcast every Thursday, which is published only on the Patreon.
So if you want that extra content, you can follow or subscribe on the Patreon and support the show.
You also get access to the full episode transcripts and PDFs, with some questions for each episode to take your learning a little bit further.
And that's not only the bonus episodes, but the main episodes too.
So if you want to take your learning to the next level with Easy English, make sure that you're supporting the Easy English Patreon as well.
And we tackle and look at more complicated topics and different themes there as well.
And there's a lot of new things coming very soon.
Okay, let's continue with our episode.
So we're going to look first at the cultural reasons of sarcasm.
So, before we start to actually look at maybe some examples or how to understand it, we're going to look at why
Why does sarcasm actually exist?
Well, in English, it does serve a function.
So it has a reason, which is, I guess it culturally exists beyond even making a simple joke.
And the number one reason is it softens criticism.
So it makes a negative point a little bit softer.
And in many English speaking cultures around the world, direct communication can be considered a little bit rude in the case of criticism.
So saying something negative about something.
And sarcasm allows someone to, in these cultures, express something negative, but in a funny or a softer and more humorous way.
Instead of saying you know you made a very obvious bad mistake, a friend might say that was genius, that was amazing, great work.
But in this scenario, you both know that it was bad work, that it was a bad mistake.
But it allows you to joke about it and express that it was bad, without the other person taking it in a serious way and without the entire conversation being confrontational.
So that is one way that sarcasm is important in British culture, but also even in the US Canada, Australia and other English-speaking countries.
And of course, in many languages there are elements of sarcasm too.
But in this episode, I'm just talking about English.
The next way that sarcasm can be used is to express frustration.
Frustration.
This is really the reliability factor, or sorry, the relatability factor.
And it's a way of sharing a negative experience together.
So venting and expressing the frustration, that feeling that you have when you're annoyed about something.
This one's very common.
I definitely use this one in my everyday life.
It's especially common in the workplace or if you're in traffic or something happens in public, that is very annoying.
And it tends to be shared with other people.
So, for example, if you're stuck in a line like a really long line with other people and it's going slow and you can tell that people are getting annoyed, someone might look at you and say oh, this is exactly what I needed today.
So they're being sarcastic here.
They're not, it isn't what they needed.
They didn't need that today.
Or they might say, I'm having the time of my life.
I'm having so much fun.
And it's funny because it's not fun.
It's the opposite.
We can say this is ironic.
So this is not about confronting others.
This is the second use of sarcasm.
It's about sharing a negative experience together.
And I think that's actually quite beautiful.
It's quite a nice way to use language to connect with other people in public.
It's sharing a joke together and turning a negative, frustrating experience into something that you can both have a little bit of a laugh about.
And I think that's quite sweet.
Third one is with close friends and family, and it can signal that connection that you have together.
And this is often inside jokes.
So sarcasm in this case is used as a sign of affection.
And it's very common I tend to see it here with groups of guys, with friends who are guys especially.
I don't want to stereotype based on gender, because of course there are women as well who are big with sarcasm.
But in my experience maybe biased because I am a guy I tend to see this type of teasing and joking between groups of guys a little bit more to show that they're friends.
So, for example, if a friend wears a ridiculous hat, You might say to them so a hat that looks very silly, it doesn't look good.
You might say to them, wow, your hat looks great.
It looks so normal.
Good choice.
And then the irony here is that you're close enough to basically tease each other, to make jokes about each other, that you don't think the hat is normal, but you're joking with them.
And that's the type of friendly sarcasm that friends can have.
The real challenge here, which is quite difficult and this is with a lot of sarcasm is that in many cases, the words are literally positive.
So they are literally positive.
If you read them on a text message or written, they seem positive.
But the true tone is often negative or opposite to what is being said.
Now, that is the challenge.
And that leads us to.
How can we understand these pieces of sarcasm, these statements for the true meaning?
And we're going to look at just that.
But first, speaking of some difficult English phrases that don't literally mean what they say phrasal verbs.
If you haven't yet, I have an e-book which teaches you English phrasal verbs.
English phrasal verbs are one of the most difficult parts of the English language.
And the reason for that is there are so many different combinations and they don't literally mean what the words say.
And the only way around them is to learn them.
And how do I think is the best way to learn them?
From context.
So I put together a book, a fairly short e-book, with 50 of, in my opinion, some of the most useful phrasal verbs, teaching you these verbs through short stories.
So I introduce the verb, and on each page there is a short story showing you how the verb is used in context and a couple of questions for putting it in the correct form as well.
So if you would like to learn English phrasal verbs, you can get a copy of this e-book in the description below.
So go to the link, you can click it and you can buy the e-book there and get access to it immediately.
Okay, back to our episode.
So let's have a look at some of our hints.
So how do we know some tips about if someone is using sarcasm?
And since the words themselves are misleading, so they're not saying exactly what they mean, you have to rely on some key verbal cues and context signals.
So, oh, those are hard words.
What do they mean?
It's really.
Stop listening to the exact words themselves, but pay more attention to the tone and the voice and how they're being said.
The music of the sentence. and the context as well.
Okay, so the first point is that tone, that voice.
So you're paying more attention to their actual voice.
And when a native speaker uses sarcasm, their tone tends to change significantly.
And you should listen for vocal flatness and slowness.
So the speaker often sounds bored, uninterested or speaks slower than usual.
They drain the warmth from their voice.
So it's not the usual way they speak.
Usually they're doing it specifically.
So for example, let's say that you were in or that I was in a very boring meeting at work.
But I say, so I'm going to say the words, it was very exciting, when someone asks me how it was.
So I could, if I said it like this, it was very exciting.
You know, it sounds like I actually thought that it was exciting.
But if I'm being sarcastic, I might say it like, it was very exciting.
Do you hear the difference?
It was very exciting.
It was very exciting.
So that difference in the tone of my voice shows in the second option that it was actually very boring.
But I'm saying the opposite with sarcasm, using irony to essentially make a joke out of it.
I'm criticizing it.
I'm saying that the meeting was bad, but in a lighter tone. way if that makes sense.
I hope I'm explaining this okay, because it is in reality, once we start to talk about it, quite a complicated idea and a little bit difficult for me to explain.
As a native speaker with the English language.
Of course, it's not something I think about a lot, So starting to talk about this, I'm learning as well, I guess, how to explain it.
The next part of the voice.
So still within our section of the tone of voice and how people are saying something is overemphasis and exaggeration.
So for example, let's say, let me think of an example.
Let's say someone is very indecisive, so they can't decide on what to choose for dinner.
You might say to them you are really good at making decisions, or you are really good at choosing dinner.
So you can hear that exaggeration, that emphasis on really in a funny way.
So I hope you can pick it up from my voice.
Whereas if I was saying it seriously, I would probably say it like you're really good at making decisions.
That difference in how I say it completely changes the meaning.
And I think I used it here in this sentence too.
But another aspect is what we would call a vocal drag.
It's when we extend a word, particularly a keyword, and that can show sarcasm as well.
It's usually with the vowel in the word.
Like, let's see, for example, like if it was a bad idea and instead I say it was a good idea.
I might say it like, that was a good idea.
You hear that extension on the vowel?
That's a way of almost telling the other person that I don't mean it, that it's a joke.
Okay, we're getting there.
We're doing well, I think.
There's a lot of information and I hope you're learning.
But the second aspect, the second main category, there's only two, don't worry, is the context.
And this is one of the tips and hints.
So you can tell often from a disconnection, so when something doesn't match with the context.
This is the easiest way to know.
In the case that something is obviously not true or it's clearly an exaggeration, then it is probably sarcasm.
So for example, you have a massive thunderstorm in your town.
There is rain, wind, and it is terrible weather.
And you might say, or I might look at you and say, fantastic, what beautiful weather for a picnic.
So not only is it exaggeration, maybe I've used a funny tone of voice, but from context you know it is terrible weather.
You're not telling the truth, so it's probably sarcasm.
And the statement is ironic.
It's the opposite of what is actually happening.
Okay, so now you've spotted sarcasm, how do you respond to it?
Well, there's one way, you joke as well.
So you can respond with sarcasm too.
Someone says that was a really exciting meeting.
You might turn back to them and say yes, the best meeting of my life.
So you've got a lot of options.
You can continue to joke with them or if you're not sure if it's sarcasm, you can just ask the person like, are you being ironic or are you being sarcastic?
And they'll probably tell you.
Save that for if you're really stuck.
So i hope today has helped you to understand a little bit more about sarcasm.
I've given a lot of examples.
We've looked at a lot of words as well, and not only the keywords that we've learned at the top um, but uh, sort of uh sorry, rather the beginning um, but we've looked at some ways to be able to identify sarcasm too, and a little bit on how to respond.
So let me know um, and i've actually forgotten about our listener spotlight today with all of the talking that i've been doing.
I'm a.
What I will do is I will ask you a question.
We will do a listener spotlight next week.
But I want to ask you the question of, do you understand sarcasm?
So I want to know your experience.
What do you think about sarcasm?
Do you understand it?
Is it something that you have noticed in TV and movies?
And do you have it in your language?
So basically tell me what you think about sarcasm.
And of course you probably have it in your language, but is it common?
Is it something that people use a lot?
Because I can tell you, here in the UK, sarcasm is a massive part of our culture and our humour.
So I hope this helped.
Make sure to check out the Patreon and get a copy of the e-book if you haven't already.
And if you're new and you've enjoyed this episode, make sure that you're following or subscribed.
Thank you so much for your support.
I love reading each and every one of your comments.
It's amazing and I love communicating and listening to what you have to say.
Thank you so much for your support and I will see you in the next episode.
Goodbye.
