09 August 2011

Sarcasm for the Masses

Three years after Oz and Ends suggested using backslant (i.e., left-leaning italics) as a way to signal written sarcasm, Sartalics.com has take up the suggestion.

They offer links to an online petition.

Because those always have so much effect.

And a Twitter feed.
Since no one else has one of those.

More on proposed sarcasm indicators here and here.

2 comments:

Marc Tyler Nobleman said...

That's an interesting idea. I wonder if it would get the same resistance that using regular italics for emphasis gets in literature; some say if the emphasis isn't clear from the context, rewrite...

J. L. Bell said...

Yeah, I’ve made it a point of pride to avoid smileys in emails, figuring that forces me to convey the tone another way. Of course, it doesn't always work.