Re: Sarcasm

["Lee Daniel Crocker (none)" <lcrocker@MERCURY.COLOSSUS.NET>]

> You are right that it is perfectly normal to use attitudinals
> ironically. Indeed, as with the literal/figurative dichotomy,
> the literal/ironic dichotomy can get pretty hard to make out.

First, I'd like to point out that what we are discussing here
is not "irony" but "sarcasm".  Irony is a semantic thing, and
can be expressed honestly, or with no attitudinals at all.

I think it /is/ important that Lojban not develop dependencies
on particular intonation, gestures, etc., outside the language.
Toward this end, the fact that it is "spoken" more on the net
than face-to-face helps to enforce that.  It is already, even
in English, a very difficult thing to use sarcasm in email or
in other print media, but it /can/ be done if done skillfully
(Dave Barry comes to mind).

As far as metonymy goes, marking it as such when known is a
good thing to be able to do, especially if one is writing about
language or working out the details of a contract, but doing so
in general conversation seems a bit too much to ask for.

--
Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html>
"All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past,
are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified
for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC