Posts
Many of the posts on this blog contain sarcasm in one form or another.
This is especially true any time I use the "sarcasm" label to help identify a particular post. It's up to the reader to determine what parts of the post are sarcastic though. Sorry!
Sarcasm
Though in the English language there is no standard accepted method to denote irony or sarcasm in written conversation...
What can I say? It's a curse. We live in sarcastic times and yet there is no way to adequately express sarcasm in written form.
For example, I was very sarcastic in the following post.
Crossing the S&P 500's Rubicon v.23
The Rubicon is meant to express something that is crossed just once and there is no turning back. The S&P 500 turned back many, many times though.
This post inspired by AllanF who has pointed out that newer readers might not realize that much of what I say is sarcastic and might therefore assume that I mean exactly what I write. I've been thinking about it and it would seem that I need an additional disclaimer.
Final Look at Local Housing Markets in November and a Look Ahead to
December Sales
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Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Final Look at Local
Housing Markets in November and a Look Ahead to December Sales
A brief excerpt:
...
13 minutes ago
22 comments:
Stag,
I'm thinking you set the bar a little too high at 1200!
I'll leave it to you to decide if I'm being sarcastic. ;)
This one should be easier. Way easier:
I'd like to take a minute to recognize Robert RubinCON, one of the unsung heros our the depression on Main Street and the boom on Wall Street.
mab,,,
I know! At the time 1200 seemed the least Rubicon like, a regular revolving door of pretend prosperity!
I'll call your Robert RubinCON goliath with a David Lereayahoo!
Always overestimate the underdog!
The sarcasm must flow.
Stag,
The sarcasm must flow.
Agreed!
Can you fix a sarcasm problem with more sarcasm? I'll put that on the list of things to bounce off of Lenny Dykstra.
Good grief was that new home sales report ugly. I'm not even going to heckle the perma bulls about it. It's just not sporting.
At this point:
perma bull = shill. The propaganda must flow!
mab,
Somebody needs to explain "oversold" to me. I think it must involve leverage.
When I sell all of something and there's just nothing left to sell I just tend to end up in a "fully sold" situation. For example, I fully sold stocks in 2004.
I also need to have "soft patch" defined. I clearly don't understand that phrase either. A decade of economic pain seems more like an "iceberg patch".
I should probably mention that I was watching CNBC this morning.
Gee, thanks Mark. Instead of fearing folks will think I'm a jerk, now I get to fear they'll think I'm a dumb-@ss.
Well played sir. Well played. ;-)
mab,
"Can you fix a sarcasm problem with more sarcasm?"
EVERYTHING can be fixed with sarcasm, from unsustainable debt problems to unsustainable trade deficit problems!
AllanF,
I really do think you were right to point it out though. It is easy to become sarcasm desensitized and for me just to assume that new readers can read between the "lies". ;)
Stag,
"Can you fix a sarcasm problem with more sarcasm?"
Oh boy, this is getting out of hand. That was a rhetorically sarcastic question. There's no such thing as a sarcasm problem. ;)
This is all AllanF's fault. Some people just can't resist stirring the pot!
mab,
Rhetorical sarcasm? I LOVE it! Hahaha!
How about literal pot stirring?
My septic tank is being pumped out right now. No joke. There's more bad news. The septic tank's pump seems to have failed.
It's a sign from the sarcasm gods!
It's a 1990 pump and it no longer dumps. I have NO idea how that might relate to our economy though. This is completely off topic of course. I just find it interesting that all the s**t backed up. That's all.
Stag,
How about literal pot stirring?
I'm all for it. One of the reasons I like virtual pot stirring is that you can "literally" use a metal spoon to stir the pot and NOT have to worry about burning your hand.
The "lies" are indeed blurred in the world of sarcasm!
I've been thinking about the title of this post - Sarcasm Disclaimer.
Shouldn't it be Sarcasm Claimer?
Well, being a literature major, the only thing I know about comedy is this--in order to be truly funny, it must have an element of truth.
It's the same with sarcasm. It's not funny if it isn't true. The thing about sarcasm though is that it appears to say the opposite of what it really means. Only those who know how to read between the lines understand it. Such is the way with all things.
If you can't read between the lines and understand sarcasm, well, then you have no mind or sense of humor.
mab,
Rhetorical Sarcasm Claim Jumper!
Why didn't I think to open a new restaurant in California in 2008? Genius!
GawainsGhost,
Well, being a literature major, the only thing I know about comedy is this--in order to be truly funny, it must have an element of truth.
I believe California's financial situation is hysterical in every sense of the word!
May 16, 2008
The Onion: San Diego Zoo, Prison Merge
The San Diego Zoological & Convict Reserve's formation has been the most controvercial merger since Orlando's SeaWorld and the Ryan E. Puttnam Mental Asylum were hastily consolidated earlier this year.
Whoaaaa? You have been kidding the whole time? I thought the point of the "sarcasm" report was reverse psychology? Now I feel lost amd alone.
GYSC,
This whole blog is a big joke.
I named it "Illusion of Prosperity" because I knew with 100% conviction that all of our prosperity is real! It is built on a sturdy foundation of truths and anti-lies!
It is no coincidence that I started this blog just a few weeks after reading the following.
August 10, 2007
Bush: 'Fundamentals of our economy are strong'
"The American economy is the envy of the world, and we need to keep it that way," Bush said, conceding that "I'm not an economist'' but maintaining that he sees strong basic indicators in the state of the economy. "The fundamentals of our economy are strong. ... Job creation is strong. Real after-tax wages are on the rise. Inflation is low."
Just look at that expression on his face!! It exuded confidence! How was I supposed to know it would soon all fall apart?
So there I was, trapped in sarcasm from the very start. I decided to just go with it though lest people think me the fool!
BRILLIANT!
This whole blog is a big joke.
So is our eCONomy. Have you ever CONtemplated how much of our "wealth" is held in ridiculously over-valued real estate?
Two bedroom 1100 sf apts in Manhattan that sell for $2 million! The three, four and five bedroom condos in the "right" buildings sell for five times that. Three acre plots in the Hamptons sell for 8 figures. Same deal on the left coast. So much of it is supported by unpayable CONsumer and joe six pack mortgage debt.
Makes me wonder. I'm hoping for a slow burn rather than a sudden flame out.
mab,
I'm hoping for a slow burn rather than a sudden flame out.
Burn baby, burn.
Mish: Investors Fly Into Municipal Bonds Like Moths to a Flame
Stag,
I lived in Manhattan in the early 1990s. Prices were outrageous then, but that didn't stop them from quadrupling.
Here's the thing. That incredible increase in "wealth" isn't the result of productive activities. It's the result of impoverishing people with usurous levels of debt, stripping assets, siphoning wealth etc.
Hardly a proper foundation for the "biggest" economy in history and the world's reserve currency.
Let's hope 2008 wasn't the fatal crack in the dam as in the Guns of Navarone.
mab,
I hear that.
There's a lack of ideas on where future job growth is going to come from.
When in doubt, let the productive workers build homes for the productive workers? Once they are all housed, then what?
This?
"I believe California's financial situation is hysterical in every sense of the word!"
No, you don't. Not in the older-medical-dictionary sense, you don't.
Cheers
Otepoti,
Hahaha! Right you are! I hadn't read down that far, lol.
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