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British humour carries a strong element of satire aimed at the absurdity of everyday life.Common themes include sarcasm, tongue-in-cheek, banter, insults, self-deprecation, taboo subjects, puns, innuendo, wit, and the British class system. [1]
While sarcasm (harsh ridicule or mockery) is often directly associated with verbal irony (meaning the opposite of what is said) and the two are frequently used together; sarcasm is not necessarily ironic by definition, and either element can be used without the other. [33] Examples of sarcasm and irony used together: "My you're early!"
When Randy Marsh learns that kickoffs have been banned from elementary school football due to fears of serious injury, he protests this at a PTA meeting, and sarcastically suggests implementing a ridiculously safe and emasculating new game called Sarcastaball, in which the boys wear bras and tinfoil hats, use a balloon instead of a ball, and give hugs and compliments to the opposing team ...
Use of similar gestures has been recorded as early as 1927, [1] and Glenda Farrell used air quotes in a 1937 screwball comedy, "Breakfast for Two." In 1889, in Lewis Carroll's last novel, the author described air brackets and an air question mark. [2]
However, subverting these and other common guidelines can also be a source of humour—the shaggy dog story is an example of an anti-joke; although presented as a joke, it contains a long drawn-out narrative of time, place and character, rambles through many pointless inclusions and finally fails to deliver a punchline. Jokes are a form of ...
"Sarcasm does not necessarily involve irony and irony has often no touch of sarcasm". [85] Irony: "A figure of speech in which the intended meaning is the opposite of that expressed by the words used; usually taking the form of sarcasm or ridicule in which laudatory expressions are used to imply condemnation or contempt". [86]
An example of the "Condescending Wonka" meme "Condescending Wonka" is an Internet meme based on the 1971 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory film directed by Mel Stuart.The meme emerged in 2011 and few years later was described as one of the most popular Internet memes, usually used to convey sarcasm and a patronizing attitude.
For example, the phrase, "John, my best friend" uses the scheme known as apposition. Tropes (from Greek trepein, 'to turn') change the general meaning of words. An example of a trope is irony, which is the use of words to convey the opposite of their usual meaning ("For Brutus is an honorable man; / So are they all, all honorable men").