this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2024
-23 points (35.1% liked)

Unpopular Opinion

6325 readers
20 users here now

Welcome to the Unpopular Opinion community!


How voting works:

Vote the opposite of the norm.


If you agree that the opinion is unpopular give it an arrow up. If it's something that's widely accepted, give it an arrow down.



Guidelines:

Tag your post, if possible (not required)


  • If your post is a "General" unpopular opinion, start the subject with [GENERAL].
  • If it is a Lemmy-specific unpopular opinion, start it with [LEMMY].


Rules:

1. NO POLITICS


Politics is everywhere. Let's make this about [general] and [lemmy] - specific topics, and keep politics out of it.


2. Be civil.


Disagreements happen, but that doesn’t provide the right to personally attack others. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Please also refrain from gatekeeping others' opinions.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Shitposts and memes are allowed but...


Only until they prove to be a problem. They can and will be removed at moderator discretion.


5. No trolling.


This shouldn't need an explanation. If your post or comment is made just to get a rise with no real value, it will be removed. You do this too often, you will get a vacation to touch grass, away from this community for 1 or more days. Repeat offenses will result in a perma-ban.



Instance-wide rules always apply. https://legal.lemmy.world/tos/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Just commit, no matter the response. Adding /s is akin to explaining a joke after you tell it. If someone doesn't understand or pick up on the sarcasm, it's not your responsibility to spell it out for them. You add /s because you don't want to be held accountable.

top 49 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 26 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Just commit, no matter the response.

I'm not seeing that as not bravery, its edgy angst.

If someone doesn’t understand or pick up on the sarcasm, it’s not your responsibility to spell it out for them.

You do you, man. I'm not interested in insulting or offending people because they can't parse my vague joke text on the internet. Why would I risk ruining someone's day on a chance a silly joke could be perceived as thoughtless hate? I'd like them laughing with me, not taking yet another tiny piece of their soul that this life does to us everyday anyway.

You add /s because you don’t want to be held accountable.

Damn right! I also don't hand loaded firearms to children because I don't want them hurt. Why do you value your humor so much you're willing to hurt people?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

I’ve noticed people often have completely different answers to the question of who bears the greater responsibility for successful communication (listener or speaker). I’ll add this one to my file.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I also don't hand loaded firearms to children

This is just where we differ, I guess.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Assuming everyone is a native English speaker is asinine. Disguising hostility as humor and expecting everyone to understand within a global audience scope is nonsense.

This is akin to respecting pronouns, explaining memes and images in alt text, and speaking up against bigotry. It is simply being a respecting human being with self awareness. You got to be the best semi-sentient entity you can be. /s

[–] [email protected] -4 points 8 months ago

I set the language of this post to English.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Yeah I used to think so too, until my SO told me "Hey, I get it, your sarcasm is really funny to me. But everyone else thinks your an asshole"

I have a very, very dry sarcasm, and with my tone most people can't tell that I'm usually not being serious when I'm talking, let alone in messages. So yeah, you can hold to the "It's their fault for not getting it", which is what I thought too, but in the court of public opinion they're not going to see you that way. I thought I was a very funny sarcastic guy. They thought I was the asshole that they all braced to work with, and that's why I never got invited to parties.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago (1 children)

You just hit on the big difference. Your SO actually knows you so even in text she can probably get your sarcasm. I don't know anybody in this thread so I can't always honestly distinguish between some sarcastic comments and crazy ones. Some people are actually crazy.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Exactly. We all have nuances in our sarcasm, mine is very dry and sometimes I honestly don't even notice I'm being sarcastic. I learned I can't use it on people who have never seen it before, or rather if I do be expected for them to take my literally.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Bruh u gotta stop caring what random dickheads think. Fuck em what are they gonna do not invite ya to a party have your own party with your better friends who get what sarcasm is.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

I appreciate what you're saying, but trust me, it was me. A classic case of "If you walk around town all day and all you smell is shit, check the bottom of your shoe." When people came back to talk to me at my job I thought I was joking, when really my form of joking was a very dry sarcasm that could easily be taken offensively. I just never knew it.

I learned to introduce it slowly over time, see how people react to it. If they pick up on it then I'm cleared to keep going, but to never assume that someone will pick up on it by default.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I agree but also want to point out that as social animals we can't help but care what others think of us. You'd need to be a psychopath to not care and I believe that even they do because being liked makes it easier to get what you want.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

You right as social animals we do have a need for human connection (to be liked as u said) but that need can be fullfilled by our friends as we do for them. I dont see why u need everyone to like you i find it very freeing that i can be hated by someone and not care because i know that i have friends who do care. As some motherfucker once said if you can count your good freinds on one hand you know they are real freinds or something along those lines anything more is an excersise in vanity.

Being liked often does get you what you want or at least makes it easyer. I suspect that phychopaths are constantly weighing up how much they need you but then again phycopathy often does come with narsasism which tends to give people a need to be loved homelander and trump are excellent examples of narsasism leading to the need to be loved.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 8 months ago (1 children)

We add /s because:

  1. Poe's law is a thing. For the uninitiated: "Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is utterly impossible to parody a Creationist in such a way that someone won't mistake for the genuine article."

  2. Tone of voice, conversely, is not a thing over text. This is the normal and intended tell for sarcasm, and without it, we have the problem in point 1. Therefore we have to use /s, winking smileys, etc, to denote sarcasm.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (3 children)

The /s tone indicator on the internet is a relatively recent development. We got by many years without using them.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

The /s tone indicator on the internet is a relatively recent development. We got by many years without using them.

And how did we do that? With other indicators. /s is just a more specific evolution of ;). But winky face is used for more than just sarcasm, so confusion develops. Thus, we have /s

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Yes daddy ;)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

"I don't like this new thing everyone has been doing for years now, nothing should ever change"

           - wesker

Go sit in your geocities page and murmur your ICQ handle over and over to yourself. Tone indicators have been a nice addition to online discussion.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

You built your own cage and you like it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I believe you believe that. You should go drink some water and take a walk outside. You sound stressed.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

Your slashes and letters are lashes and fetters.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

This is a fundamentally dseems like an argument than in your post, and more or less is just an argument against any sort of progress or innovation. “We got by without ____ for many years, so what benefit could they offer us?”

If communication is intended, then the speaker or writer has a responsibility to make an effort toward being accurately understood. That effort involves using forms, formats, and punctuation that is old and well established, as well as more novel elements of them.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Nobody needs to explain sarcasm, but sometimes you need to indicate satire.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Or, I just want to imply that you are a /super /special person. IMHO, it's just good to give appropriate context to someone /s.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

A totally reasonable take.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Is this sarcasm? I can't tell.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 8 months ago (1 children)

God if only there was some way of indicating sarcasm..

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

I feel that everyone on the internet just gets me. The world would be such a better place if everyone were as kind and gentle as they are surfin' the tubes and sharing good vibes like they do on 4chan.

Also, OP likes to rape oxen. Just throwing that out there. I don't judge though.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

I mean if you are willing to get up there and rape an ox..

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

How about just not posting any useless shit that needs a /s? Sarcasm often is not as clever or funny as the poster thinks it is.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

What qualifies as "useless shit" is to be determined, but I agree with you. If you need to use /s, your quip isn't as cunning or pointed as you think.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

I thought it meant sincere

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

I never really thought about it before, but yeah, I think I can agree with this. However, seeing people use the /s doesn't bother me.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

No. Fucking NO. It's insane to me that anyone could've lived through the past 10 years and not see how necessary it is to always use the /s tag. There's reasonable evidence that Donald Trump's original campaign never would've even got off the ground if it weren't for people sarcastically supporting him and idiots not realizing it was sarcasm

[–] [email protected] -1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Zero to Donald Trump in 10 seconds.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

/s when the point is what's important

no /s when the joke is what's important

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

You've ignored the wider picture with this. There are generally 4 categories in which all comments fall:

  1. Sarcasm read as sarcasm
  2. Sarcasm read as being serious
  3. Being serious read as sarcasm
  4. Being serious read as being serious

If everyone used /s 2. and 3. would disappear. Yes, you can think it is cowardly to avoid 2., but I think it is much more important to also avoid 3. by tagging all sarcasm.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I have seen time and again that the /s is vital. There are always idiots that don't get the joke, and sometimes, those idiots happen to be admins.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Not even idiots. Sarcasm is entirely culture-specific. Even two native speakers from different cultures can easily mistake a sarcastic text for a serious one, and vice-versa. This doesn't even touch the difficulties ESLLs experience with online sarcasm.

But I still don't use /s because I'm a lazy fuck.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I wouldn't say cowardly, but I concur that /s is used by the feeble and weak of society. If you cannot tell that I am being sarcastic when I say that I am going to cut you into small pieces and feed you to the hounds, you deserved to be cut into small pieces and fed to the hounds.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Okay calm down, Ramsay Bolton.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

You are correct.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 8 months ago

Yeah people who use /s are just a bunch of pussies..