What can be done to help people get over-the-top sarcasm?

Question

I've used and seen others use over-the-top sarcasm and some people astonishingly treat it as literal! Do we need to add blinking neon lights before sarcastic posts? Should we point to the obvious, over-the-top clues and say "HINT: This is OVER THE TOP and should not be taken literally. In fact, it's a clue that sarcasm and parody are being employed. Please see life's owner manual for more details'.

Answer 1

Well, you should send them to church to pay more attention on the religion !!!

Answer 2

Actually it would be nice if there was a symbol stating (sarcasm).
It is hard to know when someone is joking or trying to bring home a real point. This forum is 50% sarcasm and 50% not. So depending on the day I just can't always tell. How about the symbol *

Answer 3

Well I think the problem is that those that take sarcasm literally have a broken sarcasm gland and the only cure for that is intense prayer to god.

If you think your sarcasm gland might be broken but your not sure, you should pray to god immediately and send him money. Oh, and burning an infidel alive will also up the chance that god will have mercy on you and heal you of your diseased sarcasm gland.

BLINK BLINK BLINK BLINK NEON LIGHTS SIRENS!!

Answer 4

I know exactly what you are talking about. We need some kind of special font or something. I have seen people use * around one or two words instead of " to help get the point across. I even have had some of my most sarcastic answers taken seriously and given best answer.

Answer 5

I grew up with sarcasm & agree it should be used only when appropriate. On the other hand, I use humor a lot to deal with serious problems (there is a difference), & some people don't understand that.

Answer 6

Drop the sarcasm
Sarcasm is a figure of speech where a person says the opposite of what they mean. In other words, it's lying.
Most people can detect sarcasm when speaking face to face, they pick up on nonverbal cues such as expression, tone of voice, etc. But here in this media you can't see any of that, all you can see is the words at face value. And that's all we got to go on.
I personally have trouble with sarcasm even in face to face interactions. I have Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism, and I tend to take everything very literally, at face value. I don't pick up on nonverbal cues as easily as most people do. So I can see why people have trouble detecting sarcasm online. Here, there are no nonverbal cues.
So drop the sarcasm and say what you mean. It's the honest way.

Answer 7

I think that there are all ages and degrees of mental development here. Some will get it and others will not. I find it rather amusing too. I have a rather dry sense of humor and you would be surprised the number of times that some fool takes me literally. Let me tell you it can really get one in trouble too!

Answer 8

How about getting you people to address the point of the question?

Forget the sarcasm.

Maybe. weee cooouullldd spppeeeeaaakkkk reeeeallll slllooowww liikkkee thhhiiiiiiisssss.

Yooouuuur owwwnnnneeeeerrrrrsssss maaannnnnuuuuuaaaalllll reeeaaaallllyyyyy suuucccckkkkkssss.

Answer 9

Noooooo! .
Blinking lights are not required.
Long sentences with obtuse directions are also not required.
Just some 'tone'-indicator or other.
I wonder if you have the intelligence or subtlety to be able to find any such thing?

Answer 10

Ha. Ha. How true. It's sorta hard to detect sarcasm without hearing a person's voice.

Answer 11

Why do you feel the need to use "over the top" sarcasm? There are many people who post here who have real questions, and deserve real answers. Your stupid attempts at sarcasm are useless and unwelcome.