{{Short description|Proposed form of notation used to denote irony or sarcasm in text}}
{{Special characters}} {{Infobox punctuation mark|mark=class=skin-invert{{nnbsp}}class=skin-invert{{nnbsp}}27px|class=skin-invert}}
'''Irony punctuation''' is any form of notation proposed or used to denote verbal irony in written text. Due to the common co-occurrence or conflation of irony with sarcasm, at least some of these are '''sarcasm punctuation'''. Written text, in English and other languages, lacks a standard way to mark irony, and several forms of punctuation have been proposed to fill the gap.
Specific '''irony marks''' have been proposed (sometimes as jokes, sometimes seriously), such as in the form of an open upward arrow {{nowrap|(8px|class=skin-invert-image)}}, used by Marcellin Jobard in the 19th century, and in a form resembling a reversed question mark {{nowrap|(6px|class=skin-invert)}}, proposed by French poet Alcanter de Brahm during the 19th century.
Irony punctuation is primarily used to indicate that a sentence should be understood at a second level. A bracketed exclamation point or question mark as well as scare quotes are also occasionally used to express irony or sarcasm.
==Irony mark== As rhetorical questions are sometimes ironic, the rhetorical question mark (a rare and disused punctuation mark invented by Henry Denham in the 1580s) sometimes conveys irony.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Michael Quinion |title=Percontation |url=https://www.worldwidewords.org/ww-per3.html |website=Worldwidewords.org |access-date=20 April 2026 |language=en-gb |date=15 Sep 2012}}</ref>{{Circular reporting|date=April 2026 |reason=Since about 2008 or perhaps before, this Wikipedia page (in addition, we must assume, to some internet forums and communities now lost to time) has been the main vector by which the suggestion has been made that ⸮ could be a form of irony punctuation. This suggestion appeared on various places on this page with an inappropriate prominence or explicitness until April 2026. Michael Quinion likely got that impression from this Wikipedia page, and consulted other sources while writing his article, such as ''Pause And Effect'' and a dictionary containing an etymology of ''percontatio''.}}
In 1668, John Wilkins, in ''An Essay Towards a Real Character, and a Philosophical Language'', proposed using an inverted exclamation mark {{nowrap|(¡)}} to punctuate irony in his new constructed language.<ref name="4qYun">{{harvnb|Houston|2013|pages=212–214}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/AnEssayTowardsARealCharacterAndAPhilosophicalLanguage|title=An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language|date=May 27, 1668|access-date=May 27, 2026|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
thumb|Marcellin Jobard's 1841 article using an irony point. In an article dated 11 October 1841, Marcellin Jobard, a Belgian newspaper publisher, introduced an "irony mark" ({{langx|fr|point d'ironie}}) in the shape of a raised oversized arrow head with small stem {{nowrap|(8px|class=skin-invert-image)}}, rather like an ideogram of a Christmas tree.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jobard invente le précurseur du smiley en 1841 |trans-title=Jobard invents the precursor of the smiley in 1841 |author=Marie-Christine Claes |url=http://www.jobard.eu/spip.php?article34 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927022923/http://www.jobard.eu/spip.php?article34 |date=June 23, 2012 |archive-date=2013-09-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=How Words Get Good: The Story of Making a Book |author=Rebecca Lee |publisher=Profile Books |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-78283-759-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=38MxEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Marcellin+Jobard%22+%22ironie+mark%22&pg=PT124}}</ref> The next year he expanded his idea, suggesting the symbol could be used in various orientations (on its side, upside down, etc.) to mark "a point of irritation, an indignation point, a point of hesitation".<ref>{{cite book |title=Rapport sur l'exposition de 1839 |author=J. B. A. M. Jobard |page=350 |publisher=chez l'Auteur |year=1842 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0WKDeCyGpXoC&dq=%22point+d'ironie%22&pg=PA350}}</ref><ref name="7OMC0">{{harvnb|Houston|2013|pages=215–217}}</ref>
thumb|page=393|Ambrose Bierce's "snigger point", as published in ''The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce''<ref name=amcol/> In an essay entitled "For Brevity And Clarity", published in 1887, Ambrose Bierce facetiously proposed the "{{wikt-lang|en|italics=no|snigger}} point" or "note of {{wikt-lang|en|italics=no|cachinnation}}":<ref> The text is available in transcribed form in https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/66905/pg66905-images.html#:~:text=While%20reforming,sleeve%2E%E2%80%9D (the choice of {{unichar2|◡}} being a sort of arbitrary Unicode typographical approximation for the mark made; {{unichar2|‿}} would also be a plausible approximation, as would an open parenthesis rotated in CSS: {{tdir|s|(}} ) </ref><ref name=amcol>{{Cite web|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_collected_works_of_Ambrose_Bierce_(IA_collworks11bierrich).pdf|title=File:The collected works of Ambrose Bierce (IA collworks11bierrich).pdf - Wikipedia|website=Commons.wikimedia.org|access-date=May 27, 2026}}</ref><ref> https://www.futilitycloset.com/2014/04/30/type-talk/ This contains a picture of what is implied to be a scan of the original 1887 publication of the essay. </ref><ref> https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304213904579093661814158946 : The meandering path toward the modern emoticon continued in 1887, when the celebrated (and feared) critic Ambrose Bierce penned a tongue-in-cheek essay on writing reform entitled "For Brevity and Clarity." Alongside helpful contractions of phrases such as "much esteemed by all who knew him" (mestewed), Bierce presented a new mark of punctuation intended to help less fortunate writers convey humor or irony, which he called "the snigger point, or note of cachinnation." (Now almost extinct, "cachinnation" means "loud or immoderate laughter.") It looked like a line with the ends turned up and, he wrote, "represents, as nearly as may be, a smiling mouth." Of course, his proposal was itself an ironic act, and unsurprisingly, the mark didn't catch on. </ref><ref> The New York Times, [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/29/technology/29iht-emoticon.1.6880708.html "For better or worse, adults learn to say it with emoticons"]. by Alex Williams. Published: Sunday, July 29, 2007. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130622233215/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/29/technology/29iht-emoticon.1.6880708.html Archive]. :In 1912, the writer Ambrose Bierce proposed a new punctuation device called a "snigger point," a smiling face represented by \__/!, to connote jocularity. This 1912 appears to refer to the publication of the collection ''The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce'', not the original essay publication date. <code>\__/!</code> appears to be a typographic approximation in ASCII characters for what this page would represent here as <code>◡!</code> </ref><ref> https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/05/how-to-tell-a-joke-on-the-internet/309293/ :Ambrose Bierce offered the “snigger point” (a horizontal parenthesis[...]) to punctuate “every jocular or ironical sentence.” </ref><ref> https://academic.oup.com/book/40770/chapter-abstract/348692486 :The snigger point, or note of cachinnation, was invented by Ambrose Bierce in 1887. He proposed the new typographic symbol as “an improvement in punctuation,” explaining in an essay that “it [...] represents, as nearly as may be, a smiling mouth. It is to be appended, with the full stop, to every jocular or ironical sentence; or, without the stop, to every jocular or ironical clause of a sentence otherwise serious.” Recommended to humorless colleagues who had no trouble recognizing his sarcasm, the snigger point, or note of cachinnation, never caught on. </ref> {{blockquote|It is written thus ◡ and represents, as nearly as may be, a smiling mouth. It is to be appended, with the full stop, to every jocular or ironical sentence; or, without the stop, to every jocular or ironical clause of a sentence otherwise serious—thus: “Mr. Edward Bok is the noblest work of God ◡.” “Our respected and esteemed ◡ contemporary, Mr. Slyvester Vierick, whom for his virtues we revere and for his success envy ◡, is going to the devil as fast as his two heels can carry him.” “Deacon Harvey, a truly good man ◡, is self-made in the largest sense of the term; for although he was born great, wise and rich, the deflection of his nose is the work of his own coat-sleeve.”}}
[[File:Ironie-Larousse-1897-p329.png|thumb|Irony mark as designed by Alcanter de Brahm in a French encyclopedia from 1905<ref name="rxllQ">{{Cite book|editor=Claude Augé|editor-link=Claude Augé|title=Nouveau Larousse illustré|place=Paris|date=1897–1905|volume=5|page=329|chapter=Ironie ''(irony)''}}</ref>|class=skin-invert-image]] Another irony point ({{langx|fr|point d'ironie}}) was proposed by the French poet Alcanter de Brahm (alias, Marcel Bernhardt) in his 1899 book {{lang|fr|L'ostensoir des ironies}} to indicate that a sentence should be understood at a second level (irony, sarcasm, etc.). It is illustrated by a glyph resembling, but not identical to, a small, elevated, backward-facing question mark.
Hervé Bazin, in his essay "{{lang|fr|Plumons l'Oiseau}}" ("Let's pluck the bird", 1966), used the Greek letter ψ with a dot below for the same purpose {{nowrap|(10px|class=skin-invert)}}.<ref name="LOM8P">{{Cite journal|last=Bazin|first=Hervé|title=Plumons l'oiseau|publisher=Éditions Bernard Grasset|location=Paris (France)|year=1966|page=142}}</ref> In the same work, the author proposed five other innovative punctuation marks: the "doubt point" {{nowrap|(7px|class=skin-invert)}}, "conviction point" {{nowrap|(8px|class=skin-invert)}}, "acclamation point" {{nowrap|(11px|class=skin-invert)}}, "authority point" {{nowrap|(8px|class=skin-invert)}}, and "love point" {{nowrap|(12px|class=skin-invert)}}.<ref name="pg1r6">{{Cite web |last1=Yevstifeyev |first1=Mykyta |last2=Pentzlin |first2=Karl |date=Feb 28, 2012 |title=Revised preliminary proposal to encode six punctuation characters introduced by Hervé Bazin in the UCS |url=http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n4256.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507104626/http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n4256.pdf |archive-date=2016-05-07}}</ref>
In March 2007, the Dutch foundation CPNB ({{lang|nl|Collectieve Propaganda van het Nederlandse Boek}}) presented another design of an irony mark, the {{lang|nl|ironieteken}}: (8px|class=skin-invert).<ref name="gLSzU">{{cite web |publisher=Stichting Collectieve Propaganda van het Nederlandse Boek (CPNB) |title=Nieuw: een leesteken voor ironie |url = http://www.cpnb.nl/dotnet/pb/PB_Detail.aspx?Persbericht_ID=132 |date=2007-03-13 |access-date=2012-09-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081003191025/http://www.cpnb.nl/dotnet/pb/PB_Detail.aspx?Persbericht_ID=132 |archive-date=2008-10-03 |language=nl}}</ref><ref name="JS0AB">{{cite web |publisher=Nieuwsblad.be |title=Leesteken moet ironie verduidelijken |url=http://www.nieuwsblad.be/article/detail.aspx?articleid=DMF15032007_131 |date=2007-03-15 |access-date=2012-09-15 |language=nl |archive-date=2013-06-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622125003/http://www.nieuwsblad.be/article/detail.aspx?articleid=DMF15032007_131 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This resembles a lightning bolt symbol or zig-zag with two kinks going down and slightly to the left where it terminates before a dot (like an exclamation mark or question mark have). It is somewhat akin to a punctus interrogativus except much more vertically upright.
<gallery class="center skin-invert-image"> Point d'ironie de Alcanter de Brahm.svg|Alcanter de Brahm 1899 Point d'ironie (Hervé Bazin).svg|Hervé Bazin 1966 Ironiezeichen CPNB.svg|CPNB proposal 2007 </gallery>
==Reverse italics (Sartalics)== Tom Driberg recommended that ironic statements be printed in leftward-slanting italics, which he also called sartalics, to distinguish irony from the emphasis indicated by conventional rightward-slanting italics.<ref name="bAsl8">{{harvnb|Houston|2013|page=227}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-08-05|title=WATCH: A Sarcasm Font At Last?!|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sarcasm-font-_n_919845|access-date=2021-11-30|website=HuffPost|language=en|archive-date=2021-11-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130134148/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sarcasm-font-_n_919845|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Scare quotes== {{Main|Scare quotes}} Scare quotes are a particular use of quotation marks. They are placed around a word or phrase to indicate that it is not used in the fashion that the writer would personally use it. In contrast to the nominal typographic purpose of quotation marks, the enclosed words are not necessarily quoted from another source. When read aloud, various techniques are used to convey the sense, such as prepending the addition of "so-called" or a similar word or phrase of disdain, using a sarcastic or mocking tone, or using air quotes, or any combination of the above.
==Temherte slaq== In certain Ethiopic languages, sarcasm and unreal phrases are indicated at the end of a sentence with a sarcasm mark called ''temherte slaq''<ref name="dCOO8" /> or ''timirte slaq''<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2020-05-26 |editor-last=Yacob |editor-first=Daniel |editor2-last=Ishida |editor2-first=Richard |title=Ethiopic Layout Requirements |url=https://www.w3.org/TR/elreq/#ethiopic_punctuation |access-date=2024-01-05 |website=W3C}}</ref> (Amharic: ትእምርተ፡ሥላቅ),<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kane |first=Thomas Leiper |title=Amharic-English Dictionary |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz |year=1990 |isbn=978-3-447-02871-4 |volume=1 |location=Wiesbaden |pages=986 |lccn=91166276 |oclc=24468448}}</ref> a character that looks like the inverted exclamation point (U+00A1) ( '''¡''' ).<ref name="dCOO8">{{cite web|url=http://yacob.org/papers/DanielYacob-IUC15.pdf|title=A Roadmap to the Extension of the Ethiopic Writing System Standard Under Unicode and ISO-10646|author1=Asteraye Tsigie|author2=Berhanu Beyene|author3=Daniel Aberra|author4=Daniel Yacob|work=15th International Unicode Conference|year=1999|page=6|access-date=2010-04-16|archive-date=2009-11-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091123052118/http://yacob.org/papers/DanielYacob-IUC15.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Other typography== ===<span class="anchor" id="/s"></span>Pseudo-HTML tags=== {{redirect|/s|further information|tone indicator}} It is common in online conversation among some Internet users to use a fictitious closing tag patterned after HTML: <code><nowiki></sarcasm></nowiki></code>. Over time, it has evolved to lose the angle brackets (<code>/sarcasm</code>) and has subsequently been shortened to <code>/sarc</code> or <code>/s</code><ref name="4fQFb">{{cite journal |last1=Khodak |first1=Mikhail |last2=Saunshi |first2=Nikunj |last3=Vodrahalli |first3=Kiran |title=A Large Self-Annotated Corpus for Sarcasm |journal=Proceedings of the Language Resources and Evaluation Conference |date=7–12 May 2018 |page=1 |url=http://www.lrec-conf.org/proceedings/lrec2018/pdf/160.pdf |access-date=8 February 2019 |bibcode=2017arXiv170405579K |arxiv=1704.05579 |archive-date=9 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124222/http://www.lrec-conf.org/proceedings/lrec2018/pdf/160.pdf |url-status=live |quote=Reddit users have adopted a common method for sarcasm annotation consisting of adding the marker '/s' to the end of sarcastic statements; this originates from the HTML text delineation <code><sarcasm>...</sarcasm></code>. [...] '/s' has other connotations: For instance, in HTML, <code><nowiki><s>...</s></nowiki></code> denotes a strike-through. Therefore a subreddit focusing on the discussion of web programming, for example, might include instances where '/s' is used with a different meaning. }}</ref>{{Circular reporting|date=April 2026 |reason=It's quite possible that the paper we cite is exhibiting citogenesis, since it significantly postdates the appearance of the claim on this Wikipedia page and doesn't cite any source for its claim. It's just an incidental detail they mention in that paper, anyway, which they probably did not think was very important to research to get right. Maybe they read it on Wikipedia long ago (or heard some equivalent rumor) and remembered it as a common-knowledge fact when it came time to explain their corpus. Better sourcing on this claim is needed. It has also been claimed by various internet users that /sarcasm is a fake IRC command, not a fake html tag that dropped the brackets, and it is sometimes claimed that a parallel evolution of the BBCode [/sarcasm] also occurred around the same time.}} (not to be confused with the valid HTML end tag <code><nowiki></s></nowiki></code> used to end a struck-through passage).<ref name="4fQFb"/> Users of the website Reddit frequently denote sarcasm through the use of <code>/s</code>, as shorthand.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Positive Feedback Loops: Sarcasm and the Pseudo-Argument in Reddit Communities |url=https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D8SX7R41 |access-date=2023-11-13 |website=Academic Commons - Columbia University Libraries |language=en |doi=10.7916/D8KD34QN |first1=Christopher |last1=Mueller |date=2016 |volume=16 |issue=2 }}</ref><ref name="4fQFb"/> This usage later evolved into tone indicators.
=== Brackets === Rhetorical questions in some informal situations can use a bracketed question mark, e.g., "<code>Oh, really[?]</code>".{{Citation needed|date=April 2026}} The equivalent for an ironic or sarcastic statement would be a bracketed exclamation mark, e.g., "<code>Oh, really[!]</code>".{{Citation needed|date=April 2026}} Subtitles, such as in Teletext, sometimes use an exclamation mark within parentheses, <code>(!)</code>, to mark sarcasm.<ref name="VuBJ2">{{Cite web|url=https://bbc.github.io/subtitle-guidelines/#Sarcasm|title=BBC Subtitle Guidelines|website=bbc.github.io|access-date=2019-10-26|archive-date=2019-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020222240/http://bbc.github.io/subtitle-guidelines/#Sarcasm|url-status=live}}</ref>
=== Tildes === {{see also|Tilde#As expressive punctuation}} Another method of expressing sarcasm (or, perhaps, irony) is by using tildes (<code>~</code>).
For example, a "fanpost" on the sports blog ''Card Chronicle'' described its community culture of using the tilde for this purpose thusly:<ref name="pfO0M">{{cite web |url=http://www.cardchronicle.com/2014/8/5/5970751/the-guide-to-card-chronicles-memes-inside-jokes-quirks |title=The Guide to Card Chronicle's memes / inside jokes / quirks |author=Mr_Hobbes |website=Card Chronicle |date=5 August 2014 |access-date=9 January 2015 |archive-date=9 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109234138/http://www.cardchronicle.com/2014/8/5/5970751/the-guide-to-card-chronicles-memes-inside-jokes-quirks |url-status=live }}</ref> :'~' - This one character maybe the most important here at CC. Quite simply it means don't take what is said before the symbol too seriously. This is our sarcasm marker
One convention for doing this is by placing the mark adjacent to the punctuation. This allows for easy use with any keyboard, as well as variation. Variations include dry sarcasm (<code>~.</code>), enthusiastic sarcasm (<code>~!</code>), and sarcastic questions (<code>~?</code>). This convention been adopted by the Udacity Machine Learning Nanodegree community.<ref name="19UzI">{{Cite web |url=https://github.com/machinelearningnanodegree/MLND/wiki/Community-Guidelines#a-few-things-to-consider |title=Community Guidelines§A few things to consider |date=2017-08-14 |df=dmy-all |website=MLND Wiki |access-date=2017-08-14 |via=GitHub |archive-date=2021-01-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120040857/https://github.com/machinelearningnanodegree/MLND/wiki/Community-Guidelines#a-few-things-to-consider |url-status=live |quote=Should the need arise (as it so often does) to say something sarcastic, use official sarcasm punctuation ~. for dry sarcasm. ~! for enthusiastic sarcasm. And ~? for sarcastic/rhetorical questions }}</ref>
In another convention, perhaps first proposed in 2001 by blogger Tara Liloia, the tilde replaces the punctuation mark:<ref name="shadyweb3">{{cite web |last1=Houston |first1=Keith |title=Irony & Sarcasm marks, part 3 of 3 |url=https://shadycharacters.co.uk/2011/10/irony-sarcasm-marks-part-3-of-3/ |website=Shady Characters |access-date=7 April 2026 |date=9 October 2011}} (this is largely equivalent to the printed book also mentioned on this page)</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Tara |title=The Sarcasm Mark |url=http://www.liloia.com/archives/000211.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728012721/http://www.liloia.com/archives/000211.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-07-28 |website=Liloia.com |access-date=7 April 2026}}</ref> :What I propose is on a much grander scale. The sarcasm mark would be appended to the end of any sentence that was meant sarcastically. Think of all of the different places where the sarcasm mark is applicable! Why, The Onion alone would use hundreds of sarcasm marks each day. Man, the Onion is one great newspaper~ Did you catch that? It was a test sarcasm mark—it worked, didn't it? You knew I was being sarcastic. I'm telling you, 10 years from now when the sarcasm mark is in the dictionary, you'll thank me.
In another convention, perhaps first proposed by typographer Choz Cunningham in 2006, the tilde is placed after the period.<ref name="shadyweb3"/><ref name="snark">{{cite web |title=The Snark » Design |author=admin |url=http://thesnark.org/design/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413222111/http://thesnark.org/design/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-04-13 |website=thesnark.org |access-date=7 April 2026}}</ref><ref name="gramkatz"/> Cunningham called this a ''snark''<ref name="shadyweb3"/><ref name="snark"/> and it is sometimes referred to as a '''''{{vanchor|snark mark|Snark mark}}'''''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wilson |first1=Denise |title=What's a Snark Mark?! Quirky Punctuation You’ve Never Seen {{!}} tyblography |url=https://helveticka.com/blog/whats-a-snark-mark-quirky-punctuation-youve-never-seen/#:~:text=snark%20mark%20The,already |website=tyblography {{!}} stuff that we find interesting |access-date=7 April 2026 |date=16 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Specktor |first1=Brandon |title=12 Little-Known Punctuation Marks More People Should Be Using |url=https://www.rd.com/list/punctuation-marks/#:~:text=Snark%20mark,-Need |website=Reader's Digest |access-date=7 April 2026}}</ref><ref name="gramkatz">{{cite web |last1=Katz |first1=Stephanie |title=Introducing the Snark Mark and Why You Should Use It |url=https://www.grammarly.com/blog/language-trends-culture/introducing-the-snark-mark-and-why-you-should-use-it/ |website=Grammarly Blog |publisher=Grammarly |access-date=7 April 2026 |language=en |date=4 September 2015}}</ref> Cunningham suggested that font designers should make {{char|.~}} a ligature that placed the tilde above the period.<ref name="shadyweb3"/><ref name="snark"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Racic |first1=Monica |title=Dear Snark, With Love |url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/dear-snark-with-love |website=The New Yorker |publisher=The New Yorker |access-date=7 April 2026 |date=1 August 2010}}</ref>
In another convention, the sarcastic remark is surrounded by tildes, <code>~like so~</code>. See {{slink|Tilde#As expressive punctuation}} for more information on the various shades of meaning tilde punctuation can possess.
===Sarcastrophes=== In the early 2010s, some internet users advocated the convention of surrounding sarcastic or ironic comments in carets, <code>^like so^</code>.{{r|80:20|listen}} In this use, these carets were referred to as ''sarcastrophes'',<ref name=80:20>{{cite web |title=Express Yourself: The wonderful world of interrobangs and sarcastrophes|url=http://www.8020comms.com/blog/2011/11/express-yourself-the-wonderful-world-of-interrobangs-and-sarcastrophes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160211033732/http://www.8020comms.com/blog/2011/11/express-yourself-the-wonderful-world-of-interrobangs-and-sarcastrophes|url-status=dead|archive-date=2016-02-11|website=8020comms.com |access-date=7 April 2026}}</ref><ref name=listen>{{cite web |title=The Most Unloved Marks in English |url=https://www.listenandlearn.org/blog/the-most-unloved-marks-in-english/ |website=Listen & Learn |access-date=7 April 2026 |date=16 September 2013}}</ref> a portmanteau of ''sarcasm'' and ''apostrophes'' (to which they bear a small amount of visual resemblance).
=== Capitalization patterns === On the Internet, it is common to see alternating uppercase and lowercase lettering to convey a mocking or sarcastic tone, often in the form of memes. One example is the "Mocking SpongeBob" meme, which consists of a caption paired with a still taken from the ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' episode ''"Little Yellow Book"'' of the character SpongeBob SquarePants acting like a chicken.<ref name="8nJKp">{{Cite web|url=https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/mocking-spongebob|title=Mocking SpongeBob|website=Know Your Meme|date=9 May 2017 |access-date=2019-10-27|archive-date=2019-11-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105023259/https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/mocking-spongebob|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=October 2019}}{{or|date=October 2025}}
=== Emoji, emoticons, and emotes === Typing in all-capital letters, using a Twitter-style hashtag, <code>#sarcasm</code>, or emoticons like "Rolling eyes" ({{emoji|name=rolling_eyes}}), "<code>:></code>", and "<code>:P</code> / {{emoji|name=stuck_out_tongue}}, are used by some in instant messaging. Some might use the "victory hand" dingbat / emoji ({{emoji|270C}}) character to simulate "scare quotes".<ref name="qgPfM">{{cite journal |last1=Kunneman |first1=Florian |last2=Liebrecht |first2=Christine |last3=van Mulken |first3=Margot |last4=van den Bosch|first4=Antal |title=Signaling sarcasm: From hyperbole to hashtag |journal=Information Processing & Management |date=July 2015 |volume=51 |issue=4 |pages=500–509 |doi=10.1016/j.ipm.2014.07.006|hdl=2066/148844 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
The upside-down face emoji ({{emoji|name=upside_down}}) is often used to convey sarcasm.<ref>{{Cite web |title=🙃 Upside-Down Face Emoji |url=https://emojipedia.org/upside-down-face/ |access-date=2022-05-26 |website=Emojipedia |language=en}}</ref> However, it can also be understood to indicate a variety of subtle or concealed emotions. These can include annoyance, indignation, panic, mockery, and other more ambiguous feelings.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kramer |first=Elise |date=2017-02-05 |title=The semiotics of the upside-down smiley 🙃 |url=https://elisekramer.com/2017/02/05/the-semiotics-of-the-upside-down-smiley-%f0%9f%99%83/ |access-date=2022-05-26 |website=Ruthless Benedict |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The 🙃 Upside Down Emoji And Other Emojis To Get You Through The Day {{!}} 🏆 Emojiguide |url=https://emojiguide.com/blog/upside-down-emoji/ |access-date=2022-05-26 |website=Emojiguide |language=en-US}}</ref>
In many gaming communities, the word "Kappa" is frequently used to display sarcasm as well as joking intent. This is due to the "Kappa" emote on Twitch, a livestreaming site, where it has gained popularity for such purpose.<ref name="0qcyu">{{cite web |url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-a-former-twitch-employee-has-one-of-the-most-reproduced-faces-ever/ |title=How Kappa Became The Face Of Twitch |date=2015-10-21 |access-date=2018-02-05 |website=FiveThirtyEight |author=David Goldenberg |df=dmy-all |archive-date=2017-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026001422/https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-a-former-twitch-employee-has-one-of-the-most-reproduced-faces-ever/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The emote is a black-and-white picture of the face of Josh DeSeno (then-employee of Justin.tv) making a mercurial, subtly smirking expression (which he has claimed was "just a feigned smile"). It is named after the Japanese yokai of the same name.<ref name="0qcyu"/>
=== Custom indicators === {{multiple images | align = right | direction = horizontal | total_width = 300px | caption_align = center
| image1 = Pair of Sarcastisies.svg | class1 = skin-invert-image | caption1 = Pair of sarcastises by CollegeHumor
| image2 = Sarcasm mark.svg | class2 = skin-invert-image | caption2 = A "SarcMark" }} CollegeHumor jokingly proposed new marks called "sarcastises" which resemble ragged, or zig-zagged parentheses, used to enclose sarcastic remarks.<ref name="HQLvy">{{cite web |url=http://www.collegehumor.com/post/6872071/8-new-and-necessary-punctuation-marks |title=8 new and necessary punctuation marks |website=College Humor |date=February 20, 2013 |first1=Mike |last1=Trapp |access-date=2 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108211202/http://www.collegehumor.com/post/6872071/8-new-and-necessary-punctuation-marks|archive-date=8 January 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
A "{{vanchor|SarcMark}}" symbol, which resembles a spiral enclosing a period, requiring custom computer font software was proposed in 2010.<ref name="rl03z">{{cite web |website=HLN.be |title=Nieuw leesteken waarschuwt voor sarcasme en ironie |trans-title=New punctuation mark warns of sarcasm and irony |url=http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/4125/Internet/article/detail/1055695/2010/01/18/Nieuw-leesteken-waarschuwt-voor-sarcasme-en-ironie.dhtml |date=2010-10-18 |access-date=2012-09-15 |language=nl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512231117/http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/4125/Internet/article/detail/1055695/2010/01/18/Nieuw-leesteken-waarschuwt-voor-sarcasme-en-ironie.dhtml |archive-date=2013-05-12 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> This proposal was subsequently criticized boisterously in an "Open Sarcasm Manifesto" published on the web<ref>{{cite web |last1=Newman |first1=Jared |title=Open Sarcasm Picks a Bone With SarcMark |url=https://technologizer.com/2010/02/16/open-sarcasm-picks-a-bone-with-sarcmark/ |website=Technologizer by Harry McCracken |date=16 February 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Open Sarcasm Manifesto |url=http://opensarcasm.org/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100305225109/http://opensarcasm.org/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2010-03-05 |website=opensarcasm.org}}</ref><!-- there are actually several more RSes out there about both of these things, but it doesn't seem worth the time to gather them. -->
==See also== {{Commons category|Irony marks}} * Emoticon * Fnord * Internet slang * Interrobang * Inverted question and exclamation marks (¿¡) * Poe's law
==References== {{reflist}}
===Sources=== * {{cite book|last=Houston|first=Keith|title=Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols & Other Typographical Marks|year=2013|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.|location=New York & London|isbn=978-0-393-06442-1}} * {{Cite book |title=Eats, Shoots & Leaves |last=Truss |first=Lynne |date=2003 |isbn=1-59240-087-6 }}
==External links== * [https://shadycharacters.co.uk/series/irony-and-sarcasm-marks/ "Irony & Sarcasm Marks"], a series of posts from Keith Houston, the author of ''Shady Characters'', is a more comprehensive examination of proposed irony marks * [https://web.archive.org/web/20150503024945/http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/09/27/shady-characters-irony/ Ironic Serif: A Brief History of Typographic Snark and the Failed Crusade for an Irony Mark] * [https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/05/how-to-tell-a-joke-on-the-internet/309293 How to Tell a Joke on the Internet; The new typography of irony]
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Category:Irony Category:Punctuation