Comments on: FAQ http://thesnark.org Home of the Verbal Irony Mark Fri, 30 Jul 2010 04:14:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: admin http://thesnark.org/faq/#comment-81 admin Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:26:19 +0000 http://thesnark.org/faq/#comment-81 <strong>Irony Mark vs. Sarcasm Mark vs. Snark</strong> <blockquote>The short version: The Snark is a shiny, versatile, modern replacement for both the classic Irony Mark and the various Sarcasm Marks, with the best features of both! </blockquote> The long comparison The classic irony mark, as largely described in the Wikipedia article is a late 19th century proposal by the French artist/poet de Brahm. The snark is an early 21st-century version for English, from an ad-hoc group of designers and type enthusiasts. The classic mark looks like a backwards question mark, and requires a specialized piece of type to produce, or a specific design in digital type. The snark looks like a period with a tilde after it, and may appear as two existing marks, typed one after the other, or as a customized variation; just like how "1/2" and "½" both mean "one half". The purpose of all three marks overlap. The classic design is intended for where one might suggest an alternate level of meaning (the essence of irony in general) The snark is specifically for where one would <em>intone </em>a secondary meaning contrary to the literal statement. Specifically, the narrower suggestion for use of the snark is intended to remove confusion on use. More plainly, it is for use in writing where, if it was spoken, the way it was spoken (or the expression of the speaker) would contradict the meaning of the words. This is what separates "verbal irony" from other types that would not likely benefit from a special mark. The snark's usefulness sits right between the Wikipedia pages on irony and sarcasm marks, as it is broader than just a sarcasm mark. It is useful for clarifying over- and understatements, and otherwise twistful talk like deadpan rhetoric or surreal responses, but is never intended to be stamped on every single instance of irony. One current view describes sarcasm as a type of verbal irony, and verbal irony as just one of several types of irony. Irony Mark vs. Sarcasm Mark vs. Snark

The short version:
The Snark is a shiny, versatile, modern replacement for both the classic Irony Mark and the various Sarcasm Marks, with the best features of both!

The long comparison

The classic irony mark, as largely described in the Wikipedia article is a late 19th century proposal by the French artist/poet de Brahm. The snark is an early 21st-century version for English, from an ad-hoc group of designers and type enthusiasts.

The classic mark looks like a backwards question mark, and requires a specialized piece of type to produce, or a specific design in digital type. The snark looks like a period with a tilde after it, and may appear as two existing marks, typed one after the other, or as a customized variation; just like how “1/2″ and “½” both mean “one half”.

The purpose of all three marks overlap. The classic design is intended for where one might suggest an alternate level of meaning (the essence of irony in general) The snark is specifically for where one would intone a secondary meaning contrary to the literal statement. Specifically, the narrower suggestion for use of the snark is intended to remove confusion on use. More plainly, it is for use in writing where, if it was spoken, the way it was spoken (or the expression of the speaker) would contradict the meaning of the words. This is what separates “verbal irony” from other types that would not likely benefit from a special mark.

The snark’s usefulness sits right between the Wikipedia pages on irony and sarcasm marks, as it is broader than just a sarcasm mark. It is useful for clarifying over- and understatements, and otherwise twistful talk like deadpan rhetoric or surreal responses, but is never intended to be stamped on every single instance of irony. One current view describes sarcasm as a type of verbal irony, and verbal irony as just one of several types of irony.

]]> By: ankita http://thesnark.org/faq/#comment-77 ankita Fri, 22 Feb 2008 17:03:05 +0000 http://thesnark.org/faq/#comment-77 <p>what is the difference between irony mark and sarcasm mark (snark). If not then in wikipedia details of both are given differently... plz reply soon</p> what is the difference between irony mark and sarcasm mark (snark). If not then in wikipedia details of both are given differently… plz reply soon

]]> By: admin http://thesnark.org/faq/#comment-7 admin Thu, 05 Jul 2007 15:20:20 +0000 http://thesnark.org/faq/#comment-7 A: The snark has not yet been given any official Unicode index. The best practice currently is to encode it to #E2D2. This does not seem to conflict with MUFI or any other major encoding agreements, and it really should have its own encoding, since the meaning is distinct from the full stop or tilde. For more details see: <a href="http://thesnark.org/design/#encoding" rel="nofollow">http://thesnark.org/design/#encoding</a> A: The snark has not yet been given any official Unicode index. The best practice currently is to encode it to #E2D2. This does not seem to conflict with MUFI or any other major encoding agreements, and it really should have its own encoding, since the meaning is distinct from the full stop or tilde. For more details see:

http://thesnark.org/design/#encoding

]]> By: cuttlefish http://thesnark.org/faq/#comment-6 cuttlefish Wed, 04 Jul 2007 20:03:18 +0000 http://thesnark.org/faq/#comment-6 Q: If I include the snark as a unique character in my font, how should I encode it? Q: Has the snark been assigned a specific Unicode point? Is there a pending proposal, or a prefeered Private Use Area number? Q: What about OpenType features to render it from component keystrokes? Q: If I include the snark as a unique character in my font, how should I encode it?

Q: Has the snark been assigned a specific Unicode point? Is there a pending proposal, or a prefeered Private Use Area number?

Q: What about OpenType features to render it from component keystrokes?

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