Wednesday 23 April 2014

Nuts and Bolts: sarcmark

Obviously one can never have enough punctuation, so I'm delighted to bring to your attention THIS SITE where for a limited period you can download a new punctuation mark for free.
 
What is it? It's a sarcmark. You use it to show when something you've written is sarcastic.
 
Personally, I can't imagine how on earth we've managed without one of those for so long. I mean, how much better would Shakespeare and Jane Austen have been if only they'd had sarcmarks?

Never again be misunderstood! say the sarcmark people of Michigan USA. Never again waste a good sarcastic line on someone who doesn’t get it!
 
Well, thank heavens to have a solution to this problem at last. In the late 1800s the French poet Alcanter de Brahm did try to get people to use a backward-facing question mark to show sarcasm, and nowadays we do have the emoticon ;) but how much classier would Alexander Pope, for instance, have been if he'd had an official bit of punctuation to bung in between couplets?

Well, now we have the sarcmark (phew!) all our troubles are over.
 
Its Time Has Come - SarcMark sarc2
 
For the further efficiency of human communication I'd like to suggest we extend this idea to speech. So, whenever you say anything sarcastic in future, do remember that a simple touch of the tongue to the tip of the nose will make your intentions clear.
 
Sarcasm - Punctuate It - SarcMark sarc
 
 No, no. No need for thanks. Really.
 
Thing To Bear In Mind Today: sarcmark. This was invented in 2010. The sign consists of the Hebrew letter Pe with a dagesh. Its name comes, obviously, from sarcasm, which comes from the Greek sarkazein, to rend the flesh.

 

4 comments:

  1. Is it April 1 again already?!!
    That's an ugly little squiggle. I can't believe they were actually charging for it.
    That would take away so much fun trying to work out if something was sarcasm or not!
    You were being sarcastic, right? Right?! :)

    Oh, and you knew I'd do it didn't ya!
    Yep, I wanted to see how close I could get my tongue to the tip of my nose! Major fail. Again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm utterly thrilled to think that by hitting a series of square keys on a computer in England I can make someone thousands of miles away stick out her tongue.
      Magic magic magic.
      And now you've made ME try it - and I can't do it either.
      Can anyone?

      Delete
  2. Apparently some people can!

    http://www.wikihow.com/Touch-Your-Nose-With-Your-Tongue

    Blooming showoffs!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Jingles. That's quite interesting - but truly revolting!

      Delete

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