Sarcasm

[Tomii515]

Do Japanese people speak sarcastically often?
I know Americans do! hahaa

I was just wondering, if, when speaking Japanese (if it's normal to make a sarcastic remark or whatever), how do you sound sarcastic?

Do you use any specific words? Do you just have a sarcastic tone, a sin English?

Any help is appreciated ^^

よろしくお願いします！

[ASHIKAGA]

皮肉？？　日本人が？？　日本人はアメリカ人と違って 「礼儀正しくて」、「真面目」だから絶対に皮肉を言っ たりしないでしょうね。

Now, that was me being sarcastic.　　

[Charles Barkley]

Do people really still use the sarcastic tone in English? I will give you a pass because I believe you are still in high school, but it just sounds so...juvenile.

Proper irony in Japanese, I think, requires the same main ingredient it does in English--a very good understanding of the context of what the speaker his saying, the actual words he is saying, and the possibilities of what those words could mean. As a result, irony in another language is very hard to pull off....

[Kirakira1232]

皮肉？？　日本人が？？　日本人はアメリカ人と違って「礼儀正しくて」、「真面目」だから絶対に皮肉を言っ たりしないでしょうね。
Now, that was me being sarcastic.　　

LOL. 本当ですね。全部日本人がそれはみたいな。。ｗｗｗ

I dont think there are specific words to be saracastic in Japanese just as there arent specific words in english to indicate you are sarcastic. It all depends on the specific situation, context and the tone of your voice. Thats why it can be difficult to detect sarcasm over the internet unless its particularly blatant. There is no technique to it.

Of course its funny to watch people that just dont get the sarcasm lol :P

Sarchasm: The gulf between the wit of someone who uses sarcasm and the person that just doesnt get it.

[Tomii515]

haha alright thanks everyone for your help.

[Elizabeth]

haha alright thanks everyone for your help.

Whether it is directed at kids or politicians, the Japanese I think are particularly alert to sarcasm used as a serious form of criticism. Because it is relatively easy to convey annoyance by playing around the subtle layers of politeness or rank and create a more formal tone with a choice of words that would normally not be appropriate.

So consider yourself honored to be in a language where "ama" (nun) is the sarcastic equivalent of ***** or "kisama" (your honorable self) to bastard, son of a ____::: etc. :lol:

[AJBryant]

Sarchasm: The gulf between the wit of someone who uses sarcasm and the person that just doesnt get it.

Now that's funny. (It's also, sadly, way too true.)

Given how hard it is for some people to grasp irony or sarcasm in their own language, I don't know what level of understanding of second-language irony or sarcasm should be expected.


Tony

[Otenba]

One lovely case of sarcasm is "praising" someone's (epic) fail with "Otsukaresama" or "Gokurosan", things you usually say to appreciate someone's (hard) work.

But unless you don't understand the whole story and been following the whole conversation so you can be 100% sure you are able and qualified to be sarcastic about other people's escapades (as sarcasm can be offending, no matter what culture you're hanging with), just be serious.
I understand that being able to use several kinds of speech including sarcasm, can show your language/conversation skill, but unless you're good enough to sound natural, it'll look ridiculous. Imagine the wannabe rapper trying to fidget like the real thing, ending up jerking around like a spastic.