--- title: Sarcasm and tone of voice — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Sarcasm and tone of voice», a lesson of the language course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Sarcasm is saying the opposite of what you mean, usually to show you're annoyed or to tease; the words say one thing and the situation and voic --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Language](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/) / Sarcasm and tone of voice # Sarcasm and tone of voice Lesson 29 of the language course of Mova's primary school: 17 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/0/) — Sarcasm is saying the opposite of what you mean, usually to show you're annoyed or to tease; the words say one thing and the situation and voice say another. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/1/) — The family steps out for the beach, the sky opens, and Dad says flatly "Oh, great. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/2/) — Perfect beach weather"; the rain, his face and his tired voice tell you he is not happy at all. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/3/) — Tone is the feeling in your voice: a full name and a sharp "NOW!" can say "you're in trouble" louder than any words. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/4/) — In texts there is no voice and no face, so sarcasm is easy to misread; that is why people add emoji or tone tags like "/s" for sarcastic and "/j" for joking. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/5/) — Sarcasm can sting, and some people (including many learners of English and some autistic people) find it harder to spot, so when it matters, say plainly what you mean. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/6/) — Sarcasm means saying the opposite of what you mean, to mock something or show annoyance; tone is the feeling in your voice. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/7/) — To spot sarcasm, check whether the words fit the situation and the tone; if they don't fit, it may be sarcasm. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/8/) — A sarcastic "Thanks a LOT" means "I'm annoyed with you"; saying sorry works better than replying "You're welcome!". - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/9/) — In texts there is no voice or face, so sarcasm is easily misunderstood; tone tags like "/s" (sarcastic) and "/j" (joking) or emoji can help. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/10/) — In Scotland "Aye, right!" usually means "I don't believe you", even though "aye" means yes and "right" means correct. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/11/) — Teachers sometimes use sarcasm to tease gently, but it can hurt, and many teachers now avoid it with children. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/12/) — Using a child's full name and a sharp voice shows that a parent is serious or cross. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/13/) — A silly impossible add-on like "Yeah, sure, and a pony too" means "no". - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/14/) — "She'll be right" in Australia and New Zealand means "it'll be fine, don't worry"; "she" means the situation, not a person, and "yeah, nah" often means "no" or "well, not really". - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/15/) — A flat, bored voice with excited words is a sign of sarcasm; some people find sarcasm harder to read, so explain kindly if they miss it. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/29-sarcasm-and-tone-of-voice/16/) — Sarcasm exists in many languages: in Ukrainian "Чудово!" (wonderful) said in a flat, tired voice is sarcastic too. - ← previous: [Puns and jokes that need a pun](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/28-puns-and-jokes-that-need-a-pun/) - next →: [Texting, abbreviations and emoji](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/30-texting-abbreviations-and-emoji/) - ↑ back to [Language](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/language/)