Have you heard about the newest punctuation? It is a punctuation to show that you are clearly being sarcastic. It has been termed the “sarcmark”. It is evident that when communicating through electronic devices, words and meanings can often be misunderstood. Most of the time, we temper these kinds of comments with “emoticons”. But now, trendsetters have come up with this sarcmark to make sure your reader understands that you are being sarcastic. I wonder what someone like Jock Stewart would have to say about the sarcmark. I don’t think he would be interested in spending the $1.99 to download, though he would be able to get a lot of use from that one little punctuation mark! Many of us smart mouths would be using that sarcmark constantly. And teens, well….
My only thought is that if you have to use a mark to point out your sarcasm, isn’t it kind of lost anyway? Kind of like having to explain a punchline….I wondered too what Jonathan Swift would write about using such an icon.



January 29th, 2010 at 7:52 am
According to atrociously ill-informed sources, Jock Stewart thinks that his readers ought to be able to detect sarcasm without a sarmark.
“If they don’t know I’m being sarcastic by reading the words, then they’re not my kind of people,” he said. “However, those who are not practices in the subtle nuances of irony, sarcasm and tough love will probably find this punctuation to be a handy crutch.”
JS