Can you tell when another poster is being ironic?

[Screaming Lord Byron]

I've been wrong-footed now and then. It's a very dangerous device, irony. What about you lot?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. Sometimes yes..sometimes no

That's why it is incumbent upon the poster to make sure if that is the case.

[MrScorpio]

2. This I like to know

Since I was so recently burned

[Eureka]

6. Yeah but that was so obvious

I mean really, your post in question was pretty obviously just a piss-take.

It seemed to me that those flaming on that occasion knew it was a joke, but didn't like the joke, rather than missing the point entirely.

Probably helps me that I'm an Aussie, because when 'speaking Australian' most things are said in reverse. It's been said that an Aussie will refer to his worst enemy as "a bit of a bastard" and his best mate as "a complete bastard".

Cheers Mr Scorpion :-)

[DrWeird]

3. Nooooooo.

i have absolutely NO idea when somebody else is being ironic.

[SOteric]

7. *snerk*

[POed_Ex_Repub]

4. Ironically yes.

;)

[7th_Sephiroth]

5. if you have problems with a post

you should ask if they were just being ironic or not before you jump to conclusion

[SOteric]

8. Often so, often not.

Irony is a literary device which even the most talented writer can bungle from time to time. Plain text medium does not allow us the advantage of gauging expression and body language, often life's natural clues to irony and sarcasm.

In general, if a person has displayed a tendency toward irony and sarcasm in the past and I think it could be interpretted as such, I will. If they've displayed a tendency to be clueless and bigoted in the past, then I'll tend to assume they've wandered that path again.

If an individual has gone so far as to get short shrift from a few readers for what was intended as sarcasm or poignant irony, I consider it the responsibility of the original poster to make clear his or her intentions and not the responsibility of the reader to go digging around for other potential interpretations.

[Eureka]

9. That last paragraph

should be added to the rules. If you're getting called on it, start using </irony> tags or something, or change your style

Right on SOteric

[BEZARK]

10. Woe to the insensitive soul

. . . who can't spot irony, allusion, analogy, hyperbole, or sarcasm. Because they all are useful in a board environment, to make nuanced points without excessive writing and tedious explanation. There is also Newton's same reason for using Latin, which is of no small benefit too.

[jpgray]

11. I will hate you until the end of time for what you said to me

That answer your question? Huh!?

:cry:

:D

[Screaming Lord Byron]

16. Well, if you're going to hate me anyway.

Might as well get some insults in.
Mountebank!
Cur!
Cad!

[DS1]

12. You can get ironic on the Internet now?

[arcane1]

13. I'm a smart-ass in every post..

so I tend to look for it, and presume irony by default :)

[blondeatlast]

14. Sometimes. When I try to be, I try to subtly indicate that I am,

just in case.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

17. That's the problem, though.

If you have to announce you're being ironic, it fatally undermines the irony. It's a narrow little tightrope.

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. Americans think that irony and sarcasm are hostile gestures.

The best quip I've ever heard was someone who said that Americans think that irony is a heavy metal appliance that removes wrinkles from clothing.