What They Really Mean: Sarcasm

Chloe: Ah, it’s nice to see the weather’s
fantastic again.
Claire: Sounds like it’s going to be
a lovely day.
Or is it?
Let’s watch and find out.
Chloe: Ah, it’s nice to see the weather’s
fantastic again.
Mark: Really,
I didn’t think it was going to be that good today.
Chloe: Oh, it’s a beautiful day.
Mark: Maybe they got the forecast wrong.
Chloe: I can’t wait to go outside and
do my shopping.
Mark: Well
I’ve had enough of being stuck inside today.
I’ll get your shopping for you.
Mark: I am not going out there!
Chloe: The British summer is fantastic isn’t it?
Claire: What’s the matter?
Mark: I think Chloe was trying to trick me…
all that talk about how beautiful a day it is
and I fell for it.
Claire: Chloe wasn’t trying to trick you.
That was sarcasm.
Sarcasm is where people
say the opposite of what they mean,
and they use it to talk about things they don’t like
– it can be confusing.
Chloe was talking about the weather,
but we can use it to talk about
all kind of things,
you’ll see more examples at the end of the programme.
Now one way that
you can tell when people are being sarcastic,
is they often use a different intonation –
falling rather than
the rising tone
people usually use
when they are happy or excited.
Sometimes people
stretch words making them longer
if they are being sarcastic.
Listen to the difference between:
“I can’t wait to go outside!”
and
“I can’t wait to go outside”.
You should also think about the context
people often use sarcasm when
it’s obvious that they mean the opposite
to what they are saying.
Once you can tell that someone is being sarcastic,
why not join in?
Let’s try it again.
Chloe: Ah, it’s nice to see the weather’s
fantastic again
Mark: Yes, it’s great isn’t it?
Chloe: Oh, it’s a beautiful day.
Mark: I love days like these.
Chloe: I can’t wait to go outside
and do my shopping.
Mark: Yes,
that will be great fun, won’t it?