Sarcasm?

[DrinkDrankDrunk]

Does sarcasm exist in Chinese speech?

I've heard sarcastic remarks from Mandarin-speaking Singaporeans, but never from their Shanghainese-speaking counterparts or on the mainland. This is purely anecdotal, perhaps I am just rather naive? *scratches head*

[muyongshi]

Oh yeah it exist here. It is used a lot less than most english speakers though. I can't come up with any great examples of the top of my head but some of the more tell tale signs of it will be signaled by the use of 呢 and 嘛. These are not exclusively used in sarcasm (maybe only half the time???) but they may help you identify it.

[kudra]

Notice muyongshi did not write "Nah, you're not naive. No one ever uses sarcasm here."

[DrinkDrankDrunk]

Oh yeah it exist here. It is used a lot less than most english speakers though. I can't come up with any great examples of the top of my head but some of the more tell tale signs of it will be signaled by the use of 呢 and 嘛. These are not exclusively used in sarcasm (maybe only half the time???) but they may help you identify it.

Fascinating, thanks for sharing. So look for exaggeration and these word indicators? If all else fails, I'll teach them to roll their eyes like this to get their point across

May I ask if there is a Chinese equivalent to "yeah right"? 是吗? rEALly... Can you say that with a sarcastic tone? What would that tone be?

Notice muyongshi did not write "Nah, you're not naive. No one ever uses sarcasm here."

LMAO Kudra! Oh the irony... Well executed.

[adrianlondon]

I get a lot of "真的吗？u-huh" from my boyfriend, and it's definitely laiden with sarcasm.

[Xiao Kui]

this word has always sounded sarcastic to me:

好容易【hǎoróngyì】 with great difficulty; have a hard time (doing sth.).

Because it sounds like it would mean easy, but it means difficult. I avoid it like the plague because it just confuses me.

I think a lot of "难道 . . ." phrases are pretty sarcastic. "难道你的知识比老师的多？“

But Chinese don't use sarcasm as much as westerners and you can really confuse them by using it too much. Once a friend and I were sitting at separate tables in a western restaurant in China working on our laptops and the owner (a Chinese) came by to see how we liked the food. I said, "It's great, but this woman won't stop bothering me." (referring to my friend at the next table.) He knew both of us pretty well, and was really puzzled at how a nice lady like her could be bothering me. I could see the worried look on his face as he contemplated the dilemma of how he was going to handle this situation, so I immediately said "I'm just joking" He looked relieved, but still very perplexed at why I would say something like that. Afterwards my friend fussed at me for saying it because "you know most Chinese don't understand sarcastic jokes."

When I get behind really slow people who are blocking the sidewalk I'm always attempted to ask in Chinese "Could you go any slower?" but I stop myself, realizing this kind of sarcasm will not produce the desired effect nor will it get me to where I'm going any faster.

[roddy]

Yeah, you do get sarcasm, but it's very much between friends who know each other well. When you try it on someone you don't know very well (and especially if they're expecting you, as a foreigner, to say weird stuff anyway) it doesn't work. I can't be the only one who's had this conversation.

A: Will I open the beer?

B: No, I just want to look at it.

A: Oh. /walks off with bottle opener.

[rob07]

The following article on the dearth of sarcasm in China may be of interest:

www.smallswordsmagazine.com/articles/life/chinesesarcasm.html

[mesuper]

There is!

Eg. You are a so kind person!

1. Your are really a good person!

2. You are not a good person as to do such foolish things!

[DrinkDrankDrunk]

Thank you all for the responses.

I get a lot of "真的吗？u-huh" from my boyfriend, and it's definitely laiden with sarcasm.

Adrian, I actually had that phrase in mind but wasn't sure if it was sarcasm.

Does he also concurrently offer you looks of pathetic-ness and pity? If so, yep, I've been there.

好容易【hǎoróngyì】 with great difficulty; have a hard time (doing sth.)

Xiao Kui, isn't it 好不容易 that means with great difficulty?

Great stories, I think Roddy is right in that most, even in the U.S., don't expect "opposite talk", or phan hua, on a daily basis from "strangers." I too have caught myself phrasing what is full of wit and bite in English, only to sound meek and sheepish in Chinese. Or worse, to be taken literally.

A: Will I open the beer?

B: No, I just want to look at it.

A: Oh. /walks off with bottle opener.

The concept of him/her walking off[possibly into the sunset]had me in stitches. Heheheh. :mrgreen:

The following article on the dearth of sarcasm in China may be of interest:

http://www.smallswordsmagazine.com/a...sesarcasm.html

Rob, what a find, thank you! I actually called my mother(native Shanghainese) and unleashed "谢谢侬一家门" upon her virgin ears... I like how the author involved humor and satire, and revealed levels of complexity far beyond my scope of comprehension.

Eg. You are a so kind person!

1. Your are really a good person!

2. You are not a good person as to do such foolish things!

Hello mesuper, do you mean something like:

"你是好人, 你好的不的 laou" while rolling your eyes? Pardon my horrible pingyin.

[adrianlondon]

Does he also concurrently offer you looks of pathetic-ness and pity?

Nope, not yet. I'm quite sarcastic with a very British sense of humour. It can take people a while to suss me out. I think he's learning from me, which means he's gonna get worse and worse. My own fault.

isn't it 好不容易 that means with great difficulty?

I love this one.

http://www.chinese-forums.com/search.php?searchid=328727

[heifeng]

seems like 9/10 times the term 天才 is used quite sarcastically....or maybe that's just me using it sarcastically...no wait...I am pretty sure it's not just me using it that way...hehe

你真是个天才——天生的蠢才

[muyongshi]

heifeng

I agree with you that 9/10 it is pretty sarcastic. (margin of error +-2 pts)

Roddy I don't even go there....I just look at them like the asked the dumbest question in the world and after the stare back at me for 3 minutes thinking i didn't understand I just very sarcastically say 当然. But I have had that happen to me before.

[lpascoe]

In my experience (which is entirely in Taiwan) sarcasm gets used a lot, but it is always accompanied with rolling of eyes or a tone of voice dripping with sarcasm. Anything too dry delivered with a straight face would go over the heads of a lot of people here, I suspect.

[Ari 桑]

Oh, that 天才 thing, is that why the guy from 十七岁的天空 never likes to say his name? I was wondering about that.

By the way, I don't understand that 谢谢侬一家门 thing.

[madizi]

As far as I understand, Chinese humor is situational humor. That means, that words have to be accompanied with gestures and grimaces. Maybe the same thing with sarcasm...

[xiaojiang216]

I thought I'd share with you all my first time hearing sarcasm used in Chinese

My host brother was playing his clarinet, and his father was reading a newspaper. His father looked up from the newspaper and said,

"听你吹黑管儿就是扣人心弦“ (Listening to you play the clarinet is so deeply moving)

I walked into my room to get my dictionary to look up the 成语 he just used, then I finally laughed.

The second time I heard Chinese sarcasm was when my host brother was watching a show that was for kids probably half his age (he is 12). The show starts with a cute theme song and colorful subtitles that go along with it. His mom and grandmother were like, "哦，你听得懂吗？那个“天“字是什么色儿呢？那些色儿很漂亮哦！" etc. I thought it was so funny!

Edit: Uh oh! 天才 usually has sarcastic meaning? Whenever someone does something that I really think is cool or impressive I call them a 天才. Do they laugh and smile because they think I'm being sarcastic or because they're being modest?

[milesaway]

Well, instead of 白痴 or 笨蛋, you can say this to one, "你太有才了!" That should do the trick.