The Animals Speak a Foreign Language

Jonathan was playing with his farm puzzle, pulling out each piece, naming it, and making the sound that the animal makes. "Rooster, cocka-doo-doo" "Sheep baa" When he got to the pig, he only named it, so I asked him if he remembered what a pig says.
If he did, he wasn't saying, so I told him. Then he proceeded to take out all the other pieces and say, "Horse, oink, oink. Duck, oink, oink. Barn, oink, oink..." giggling all the while.

Interestingly enough, when he got to the horse, every time he would hesitate, staring to say "neigh" but he knew he was playing the game, so would catch himself and say "oink oink."
Posted by Heather Daley on October 28, 2005, 8:39 am | Read 2092 times
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It's amazing how often children like to play the "I know the right answer but I'm going to have fun by giving the wrong one" game. In an adult we call that sarcasm consider it a sophisticated form of humor. Though in adults sarcasm is often nasty, and children haven't learned that yet.
Posted by SursumCorda on October 28, 2005, 9:06 am
The difference between sarcasm and irony is one that still confuses me. I thought that the example above was sarcasm (maybe since I'm your daughter) but I've been later corrected in that it is actually irony - saying the opposite of what you mean. Yet I still here them used in different ways. Can anyone enlighten me?
Posted by Janet on October 29, 2005, 7:58 pm
Heather and I were not able to explain the difference well, so went to google/answers.com to see what they had to say. This quote from wikipedia is probably the best/most relevant to this discussion:
[Sarcasm] is often misused as a synonym for irony. Irony refers however to the literal meaning and the intended meaning of the words uttered being different, while sarcasm refers to the mocking intent of the utterance. It is possible to be ironic without being sarcastic, and to be sarcastic without being ironic. I wouldn't have thought sarcasm had to be mocking or "often intended to wound" (American Heritage Dictionary)
Posted by jondaley on October 29, 2005, 10:47 pm
I didn't think so either, but that would explain why sarcasm has a negative association in my mind that irony doesn't.
Posted by SursumCorda on October 30, 2005, 6:40 am
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