{{short description|Expressions of humor used during adversity: cynicism, derision, skepticism}}
'''Sardonicism''' is form of wit or humour with a degree of cynicism or disdainfulness. It is more biting and negative than sarcasm, yet not entirely malicious. A sardonic person might participate in funny yet scornful mocking, or express uncomfortable truth in a clever way. The style of expression can be both spoken and written, and is featured in a literary genre.<ref>{{cite web |date=29 June 2017 |title=Sardonic: Definition and Examples |url=https://literaryterms.net/sardonic/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Definition of SARDONIC |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sardonic |website=www.merriam-webster.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of sardonic in English by Oxford Dictionaries |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/sardonic |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160925035647/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/sardonic |archive-date=September 25, 2016 |access-date=2018-01-15 |website=Oxford Dictionaries {{!}} English}}</ref>
==Origin== Both the concept and the etymology of the root word "sardonic" are of uncertain origin, but appear to stem from the Mediterranean island of Sardinia.<ref name="etymonline.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/sardonic|title=Sardonic, origin and meaning|publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary}}</ref> The 10th-century Byzantine Greek encyclopedia ''Suda'' traces the word's earliest roots to the notion of grinning ({{langx|grc|σαίρω| sairō}}) in the face of danger, or curling one's lips back at evil.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?login=guest&enlogin=guest&db=REAL&field=adlerhw_gr&searchstr=sigma,124|title=SOL Search|website=www.stoa.org}}</ref>
One explanation for the later alteration to its more familiar form and connection to laughter (supported by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'') appears to stem from an ancient belief that ingesting the ''sardonion'' (σαρδόνιον) plant from Sardinia (Σαρδώ) would result in convulsions resembling laughter and, ultimately, death.<ref name="Dictionary.com">{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=sardonic |title=Sardonic | Define Sardonic at Dictionary.com |publisher=Dictionary.reference.com |access-date=2010-03-31}}</ref> In ''Theory and History of Folklore'', Vladimir Propp discusses alleged examples of ritual laughter accompanying death and killing, all involving groups. These he characterized as sardonic laughter:
<blockquote>Among the very ancient people of Sardinia, who were called ''Sardi'' or ''Sardoni'', it was customary to kill old people. While killing their old people, the Sardi laughed loudly. This is the origin of notorious sardonic laughter (Eugen Fehrle, 1930). In light of our findings things begin to look different. Laughter accompanies the passage from death to life; it creates life and accompanies birth. Consequently, laughter accompanying killing transforms death into a new birth, nullifies murder as such, and is an act of piety that transforms death into a new life.<ref>Vladimir Propp, ''[https://monoskop.org/images/f/f0/Propp_Vladimir_Theory_and_History_of_Folklore.pdf Theory and History of Folklore]'': Ritual laughter in folklore, pp. 134-35. Anthology edited by Anatoly Liberman (1984).</ref></blockquote>
A root form may first appear in Homer's ''Odyssey'' as the Ancient Greek ''sardánios'', altered by influence of the word ''Sardonios'' (Σαρδονιος, "Sardinian"),<ref name="etymonline.com" /> originated from a Greek phrase which meant "to be sneered", "tearing of flesh" or for scornful laughter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/sardonic?showCookiePolicy=true|title=Sardonic definition and meaning - Collins English Dictionary|website=www.collinsdictionary.com}}</ref> From the {{Lang|el-Latn|sardónios}} evolved the {{langx|la|sardonius}}, thence the {{langx|fr|sardonique}}, and ultimately the modern English adjectival form, ''sardonic''.<ref name="Dictionary.com"/> In the English vernacular, it was recorded and utilized in Edmund Spenser's ''The Shepheardes Calender'' (1579).
=== Hemlock water dropwort === In 2009 scientists at the University of Eastern Piedmont in Italy claimed to have identified hemlock water dropwort as the plant responsible for producing the sardonic grin.<ref>{{cite journal|journal = Journal of Natural Products|year = 2009|volume = 72|issue = 5|pages = 962–965|title = Polyacetylenes from Sardinian ''Oenanthe fistulosa'': A Molecular Clue to ''risus sardonicus''|author1=G. Appendino |author2=F. Pollastro |author3=L. Verotta |author4=M. Ballero |author5=A. Romano |author6=P. Wyrembek |author7=K. Szczuraszek |author8=J. W. Mozrzymas |author9=O. Taglialatela-Scafati |name-list-style=amp |doi = 10.1021/np8007717|pmid = 19245244|pmc = 2685611 | bibcode=2009JNAtP..72..962A }}</ref> This plant is the candidate for the "sardonic herb", which was a neurotoxic plant used perhaps for the ritual killing of elderly people in pre-Roman Sardinia. When these people were unable to support themselves, they were intoxicated with this herb and then dropped from a high rock or beaten to death.<ref>[http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=in-brief-aug-09 News Scan Briefs: Killer Smile], Scientific American, August 2009</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Redazione |date=2023-01-23 |title=Il sacrificio degli anziani nella Sardegna antica, tra mito e tracce storiche |url=https://www.queryonline.it/2023/01/23/il-sacrificio-degli-anziani-nella-sardegna-antica-tra-mito-e-tracce-storiche/ |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=Query Online |language=it-IT}}</ref>
==''Risus sardonicus''== {{Main|Risus sardonicus}} ''Risus sardonicus'' is an apparent smile on the face of those who are convulsing because of tetanus or strychnine poisoning. From the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', "A fixed, grin-like expression resulting from spasm of facial muscles, esp. in tetanus." From a criminal poisoning handbook published in 2010:
<blockquote> [Convulsion of the] facial muscles may cause a characteristic expression called ''Risus sardonicus'' (from the Latin for scornful laughter) or ''Risus caninus'' (from the Latin for doglike laughter or grinning). This facial expression has also been observed among patients with tetanus. ''Risus sardonicus'' causes a patient's eyebrows to rise, eyes to bulge, and mouth to retract dramatically, resulting in what has been described as an evil-looking grin.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=AgfjGTxPM2MC&dq=Strychnine+risus&pg=PA161 Holstege, C. et al., ''Criminal Poisoning: Clinical and Forensic Perspectives'', by Christopher Holstege, Thomas Neer, Gregory Saathoff, and Brent Furbee, Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2010, p. 161.]</ref> </blockquote>
== See also == {{portal|Psychology}} * Bittersweet * Euphemisms * Irony * Rapport * Roasting * Sarcasm * Schadenfreude * Self-parody * Evil laughter
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == {{wiktionary|sardonic}} * {{cite web | url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=sardonic| title=Entry: Online Etymology Dictionary | access-date=2008-10-30 }} * Definition, meaning, and social examples of the word Sardonic [https://www.vocabularytoday.com/sardonic-meaning-usage-quotes-and-social-examples/ Sardonic meaning and usage example]
Category:Humour Category:Rhetoric