Spoken Sarcastic Emphasis, Typed Out.

[jaF0]

Let's say you want to take a jab at a so called 'professional' opinion of someone who is not a professional. When speaking, you might drag out the 'o' in a very long drawn out O sound. But typing it out as 'Prooooo-' makes it sound like ooo (proof), 'prooooo-fessional'. It's even hard to type it here to illustrate the sound I'm looking for.

Of course there are probably a bunch of other ways to get the point across in a story, but I'm still curious.

 

[Jada59]

I might drag out the 'r".

 

[SimonDoom]

I'm thinking about how this would sound in a conversation, and I think the most likely thing is that the person making the sarcastic remark would put extra emphasis on the syllable that already is emphasized. In this case, the stress is on the second syllable -- pro FES sion al. So I would do something in writing to indicate that the speaker is putting exaggerated emphasis on the second syllable.

"You should take my advice," he said. "After all, I'm a professional."

"A proFESSional," she replied, her mouth twisted skeptically. "I see."

Or you could indicate the emphasis after the tag rather than through the way the word is spelled:

"A professional," she replied, exaggerated the stress on the second syllable.

Or describe her tone:

"A professional," she replied in a mocking tone.

The last example is "telling" rather than "showing" but in this case it might work better because the alternatives are a bit awkward.

 

[ElectricBlue]

"A proFESSional," she replied, her mouth twisted skeptically. "I see."

I'm not even sure you need the caps.

"A professional," she replied, her mouth twisted sceptically. "Of course you are."

(Excuse my Oz English spelling - I kowtow to no-one!)

 

[gunhilltrain]

I'm not even sure you need the caps.

"A professional," she replied, her mouth twisted sceptically. "Of course you are."

(Excuse my Oz English spelling - I kowtow to no-one!)

The use of italics or "ironic quotes" around the word might work. Or just describe the tone of voice as mentioned in the posts above. There is the option of using the unspoken opinion of the character. Usually italics are best for that.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Or...

"A professional," she said sarcastically. "Of course you are."

KISS.

 

[AlinaX]

Yeah, right.

 

[davet_1_1]

This is where I would fall back on the crutch I use for all emphasis, italics.

"Stand back, I'm a professional!"

"Oh, we're saved, he's a professional!"

 

[NotWise]

Yeah, right.

You sound skeptical.

 

[AlinaX]

You sound skeptical.

You think?

 

[HeyYoureThatGuy]

The obvious answer here is the English language needs an agreed-upon sarcasm punctuation mark.

 

[NotWise]

You think?

Totally.

 

[davet_1_1]

The obvious answer here is the English language needs an agreed-upon sarcasm punctuation mark.

Yeah, that would be really useful.

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

You can get the effect of a prolonged 'long o' with a string of 'h's after a single o: Prohhh-fessional.

 

[jaF0]

Let's say you want to take a jab at a so called 'professional' opinion of someone who is not a professional. When speaking, you might drag out the 'o' in a very long drawn out O sound. But typing it out as 'Prooooo-' makes it sound like ooo (proof), 'prooooo-fessional'. It's even hard to type it here to illustrate the sound I'm looking for.

Of course there are probably a bunch of other ways to get the point across in a story, but I'm still curious.

I did not start this thread today ... August 4, 2020


I'm not sure what's happening here.

 

[NotWise]

I did not start this thread today ... August 4, 2020


I'm not sure what's happening here.

That's odd. Point it out to the moderator?

 

[Salacious_Scribe]

The obvious answer here is the English language needs an agreed-upon sarcasm punctuation mark.

There's several ways...

The sarc (sarcasm) mark

https://c7.uihere.com/files/120/378/322/irony-punctuation-sarcasm-therefore-sign-punctuation-thumb.jpg

The snark mark(s)
Another method of expressing sarcasm is by placing a tilde (~) adjacent to the punctuation. This allows for easy use with any keyboard, as well as variation. Variations include dry sarcasm (~.), enthusiastic sarcasm (~!), and sarcastic questions (~?). The sports blog Card Chronicle has adopted this methodology by inserting (~) after the period at the end of the sentence.[19] It has also been adopted by the Udacity Machine Learning Nanodegree community.

On the Internet, it is common to see alternating uppercase and lowercase lettering to convey a mocking or sarcastic tone

Here's a list of 13 other little known punctuation marks you can use. Some are cool, and I want to use them. Too bad most people don't know what they mean.

https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,h_1236,w_2198,x_2,y_0/f_auto,q_auto,w_1100/v1591984595/shape/mentalfloss/12710-artboard.jpg

 

[jaF0]

There's something very wrong, somewhere. I can't explain what.

 

[NotWise]

There's something very wrong, somewhere. I can't explain what.

Did you not start the thread at all, or did you start it, but not today?

 

[jaF0]

I don't remember it having this thread title. And it seems to have changed more than once. Something in my browser cache? Or am I going insane?

"Spoken Sarcastic Emphasis, Typed Out."

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

I don't remember it having this thread title. And it seems to have changed more than once. Something in my browser cache? Or am I going insane?

"Spoken Sarcastic Emphasis, Typed Out."

I don't remember for sure, but "Spoken Sarcastic Emphasis, Typed Out" does sound like the same title I first read on it. Do you remember what you thought it was?

I do know you didn't post it today. That doesn't mean you aren't crazy, of course.

 

[JJA122]

I like the look of an exclamation mark in-between brackets. It is used in subtitling.

"Wow, you're really good(!)"

But the reader would have to be told what it means, and I would only use it if there is sarcasm everywhere.

I agree with Mr Electric, you probably don't need both.

Either:
"A professional," she replied, her mouth twisted sceptically. "Of course you are."
Or a token, like italics, caps, or the method I mentioned above:
"A proFESSional(!)" she replied. "Of course you are."

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Scare quotes could work. And a tag confirming the sarcasm:

"Oh, you're a 'professional', are you? Of course you are..." You could have cut the sarcastic tone with a knife.