Sarcasm punctuation mark aims to put an end to email confusion

Discussion in 'Linguistics' started by Rav, Jan 20, 2010.

  1. Captain Kremmen All aboard, me Hearties! Valued Senior Member

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    12,738
    I would never say "Acid Rock is his Forte" of a great musician.

    Either a person is very good at Acid Rock or they aren't.
    To say "Acid Rock is his Forte", would be a limited compliment, and as such would imply a lack of exceptional talent

    Forte is usually used as part of a personal boast, same as Passion.
    e.g. "Cooking is my Forte" "Cooking is my Passion"
    Come to think of it, Forte is probably said half joking, unlike the more recent Passion which is meant to impress.
    Is "It's my Passion" in common use in the US as well as the UK?


    (If someone is a good cook, they should just cook food and let the rest of us decide how good he/she is. And Keep passion for the bedroom)
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2010
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  3. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    I have often said, "Shakira's forte is erudite ballads in Spanish and Arabic. It's a shame that the Hollywood machine is wasting her talent on throwaway ditties in English."
     
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  5. dazzlepecs Registered Senior Member

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    there already is a punctuation mark to denote sarcasm, an 18th century book had hundreds of these obsolete symbols.. It was an upside down question mark called a "snark" i think. Also an exclamation mark sided with a question mark as in "!?" is called an intermezzo
     
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  7. Try Again No, I'm not a mod. Registered Senior Member

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    91
    Isn't it optional to use them?
     

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