One of my little things is noting the difference between Facetious and Sarcastic. I've known the meanings since I was a little girl. My parents never talked down to us and I clearly remember being in the car as a little girl. My dad said something and i said, "DAAAAAAAD!" and mom turned around and said, "Just ignore him, he's being facetious." People mostly say they sarcastic. If that were true then most people would be nasty, obnoxious people indeed.
Sarcastic is basically a way of being nasty and mean. Generally a biting comment meant to insult. Whereas Facetious is playful, fun and teasing. 9 times out of 10 when someone says they were being sarcastic they were actually being facetious. The usually sound the same but can be differentiated by the tone used. I can be sarcastic but most of the time I'm being facetious.
I met a guy recently and thought he was the one for me because 1, I never had to explain any of the words I used, and two he knew the difference between sarcasm and facetiousness. Unfortunately he was at a bad place in his life and it didn't work out but I knew that someone who appreciated the nuanced use of the English language would pose a distinct attraction for me.
I guess that's the advantage of going on dates. I have a friend that who always encourages me and our other friends to "cast our nets wider." To date people we don't think we'll like cause you never know when someone who doesn't fit all of your qualifications will be someone you can really click with. She also has a 3 date rule. I went on 3 dates with this guy but it didn't work out. The first date was great but the 2nd and 3rd were a let down. But I got to get an idea of what qualities were attractive to me and which one were deal breakers.
I decided boring was a definite deal breaker. Kind of obvious I know, but what felt comfortable and nice on the first date felt old and boring by the third. I wanted the excitement that usually comes with a new relationship and it wasn't there. I know there's a guy out there that will cause my toes to curl and stimulate my mind. And I'm willing to wait to find him. Not settling here.
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31 comments:
Well, congratulations on having known the difference between facetious and sarcastic since you were a little girl. And congratulations on using big words that are lesser known to the bulk of the population. Aren't you just so smart. I, too, have a passion and an appreciation for the English language, but I try not to go around using big words that I know are not known by most of my peers. While I desire for people to attain a certain level of education, whether formal or otherwise, I don't judge people by their vocabularies. Finally, is this an entry about the difference between the two aforementioned words, or is it an entry about dating?
P.S. Didn't anyone ever teach you to review your work before you turn it in?
I hate how everyone is always so hateful and mean on the internet because of the anonymity factor...why would anyone go out of their way and waste their time being negative and always putting people down in comments....well,to play devil's advocate I'm not c]doing more complaining about his complaining...I am saying people should not do it....when I was little boy my mom said if you dont have anything nice to say,don't say anything...I liked your blog....
I liked your post too - it answered the very question I was asking. Anonymous apparently knows about sarcasm, but could learn to be a little more cooth. Unless he/she doesn't know what that word means (yes, sarcastic...maybe he/she will look it up!)either.
I found your post interesting and truthful.
I love how Anonymous thinks you were talking about "big words". Certainly most of my "peers" use words like that Anonymous.
I think maybe Anonymous doesn't get to date much, and realised he or she has been using the words the wrong way around for years. Nah... I am just being facetiously sarcastic :p
Thanks for all your posts. It's obvious to me that Anonymous missed the point. I don't judge or look down on people that don't have a big vocabulary. I was lucky enough to be encouraged to read and just picked up a lot of cool words along the way. I think when people don't have a large vocabulary they think you are trying to look down on them. Or maybe they are insecure so they attach. I've been mocked on numerous occasions for my vocabulary. I don't do it on purpose. I don't set out to use words that others don't know or even try to increase my vocabulary. I just know them.
As far as what it's about, I wasn't writing this for the world though obviously I put it on the internet so anyone can comment. I hadn't written in a long time, and a number of friends encouraged me to start a blog to get the juices flowing. At the time dating and weight loss and words were on my mind, so that's what i wrote about.
Thanks to those that left positive comments.
It amazes (the audacity!)and enrages me that Anonymous will take it upon himself/herself to critize a person's personal blog, but is too cowardly and insecure to stand behind his/her opinions by putting his/her name on his/her comment. WTF!!!
I was googling for the difference between sarcastic and facetious and came across your post. I enjoyed it very much and totally get your point. Keep writing!
Elizabeth. I was so excited to get your comment and find out that my post comes up 3rd when looking up facetious and sarcastic. I also appreciate the support. I'm thinking reviving my blog with a different bent. I liked your point that anonymous attacked my writing but didn't sign his/her name. good point. Also I didn't review my work because it wasn't a paper for school or work etc. However if I am going to be blogging about writing/vocabulary etc I should be more careful about typos. Especially since my friends and I have often disqualified guys online for bad writing ;) I will keep that in mind.
"Sarcastic is basically a way of being nasty and mean. Generally a biting comment meant to insult."
No. Dictionaries disagree with this statement, you idiot.
Hey relax, I was being facetious
You see that? That is sarcasm.
P.S. I love you, marry me.
Well, I too was googling facetious vs. sarcastic while leaving a text message to someone and I was using the word facetious... whether he knew meaning or not ... oh well! So I came across this very interesting series of comments. All I can say is, I enjoyed reading. At first, I too thought it was rather snobbish of the writer and odd to incorporate dating example, but at the same time really enjoyed the story. It brought some life to the words by giving colorful background.
...without the shadow, there can be no light ;)
Was "I met a guy" being facetious as your no looker
Well what a bit of blogging we have done here. I quite enjoyed the blog and the rhetoric back and forth. To add to it as facetious as this might sound, Granite Stater could use the word cooth if he/she knew how to spell it correctly. I believe the word here being used is couth whereas cooth sounds like a Maurice Sendak book overtly titled, "Cooth in a Booth" which the author gets high praise by the social media outlets. Years down the road Hollywood turns it into a motion picture e.g. (exempli gratia) "Where the Wild Things Are." Parents then take their two kids and their two friends wasting $50 and being vastly disappointed to no end. Hence, to not make this mistake, learn how to spell words before using them so I do not have to waste my hard earned money on an abysmal movie because as many have stated before me people are stupid and may pass this as respectable work.
The blog did catch my eye as I am also dating a person and used the word "facetious" in a sentence finding the blog interesting as Anonymous did, but left me wondering if the blog was about dating or the difference between facetious and sarcasm. However, I do use big words that are "lesser known to the bulk of the population." I feel it is my right as an educated person to make it understood by my peers that I am smarter and more intellectual than they are. It is everyone’s right to judge others by the words they use. I prefer to be judged so I know where I stand in a long line. If no one ever judged us then we possibly may end up going to see a terrible Hollywood mockery of a fictitious book titled "Cooth in a Booth."
Woaaaaaa that was uuuber facetious.
Ok so I'm going to go out on a limb here and agree with anonymous, though not so much with his (her?) tone. This blog could use some *constructive* criticism instead of the bashing given. For example, while the use of a personal narrative helps connect the reader to the author (thereby pulling me in and making me want to read more), it also blurs the focus of the post (hence the confusion about the purpose of the piece). Perhaps a concluding paragraph clearly tying up the loose ends would be beneficial. All in all, the ideas are good, and I will be interested in reading more posts. For whatever that's worth :)
Oh and i am most def *not* agreeing with the anonymous of Jan.26 2011. That was just rude and unnecessary.
I think Anonymous was just trying to give a real time example of sarcasm.
Thanks for this post - I wanted to use the word facetious to describe my site - as it's the only word that fits really, but I do feel that the meaning has become slightly more negative - at least in the environment I grew up. I think mainly because my Mum confused it with sarcasm haha. The first anonymous is an idiot, what business does he/she/it have reading blogs that are too complicated anyway? :-)
(Three years later, the conversation continues...) I was amused by the comments following this blog. Perhaps the first Anonymous was the fellow from the date?
First Anon, using facetious over sarcastic is like choosing content over smug. Similar, but not the same, so a matter of being accurate and clear.
I find that, more and more, people don't "get" facetiousness. They are losing the ability to recognize when someone is joking and their tongue is planted firmly in cheek, as they say. Oh, where is Steve Allen when you need him?
On a different but related note (which I guess will bother some folks), I have also seen some people confuse lying with being mistaken. This is a matter of vocabulary of intent, like sarcasm/facetiousness. Just because someone says something that is untrue, doesn't mean they were lying. If it was unintentional, they were wrong. Period. Don't accuse them of lying.
Hello, I'm an old lady, but kind of pretty,Still...thought you'd like to know that as added criteria just as you wrote about your dating experience! (Facetious?) Ok Well here's the thing I notice about beinb facetious, it can be arange, I think, right? From cute and witty to downright funny, especially in the speaker's view! It also seems to be often a bit disruptive...or is it generally always so? Tell me, please... and ty so much for your post, Dear...grammalyn
Hahaha! Perfect reply - you took the words right out of my mouth.
Amen, on all counts. If one is going to write a post on one's self-proclaimed superior knowledge of the English language, I would think one would want to display finely honed writing, not this sloppy mess.
It's also worth mentioning that the blog writer has an incorrect understanding of "sarcastic," as the definition she provides more accurately describes the meaning of "sardonic".
But yeah, you're totally way smarter than the average person, and your immense vocabulary and understanding of the English language, as well as your impressive storytelling skills are something to be admired.
That was me, being sardonic.
Thank you for your blog. I too was looking up the difference between the two words and when I googled them, your blog came up 2nd on mine! I would like to mention something about your blog also, and just so you know, I do not by any means think that I have a great vocabulary, or a whole lotos knowledge of the English language and how to properly write it most of the time, but I do think that it is kinda funny how you were talking about that kind of stuff and as I am reading your blog, I noticed that you had made some mistakes in your sentences like "they sarcastic" and "The usually sound the same". With that said(and I am sure I most likely did not punctuate correctly in any of this) I would like to thank you again for posting this because it helped me out and amused me too!
very much enjoyed finding your blog and will most definitely return!
Oh, by the way...the person who accused someone else of being uncooth? It's uncouth. Good communication only BEGINS after you get the spelling correct. LOL
Make that 2 BTWs:
I've found that most of the time when someone accuses someone else of being snobbish when they write about someone else's lack of good communication skills, it usually is reflective of the insecurity of the person accusing.
Trying to share information with others is always difficult because so many people are looking for a way to be offended (to confirm their fears that stem from their insecurities).
Try teaching them computer skills. Oh, no! ;)
EdClark.com
NC, USA
He may have spelled uncouth wrong but he pronounced it correctly-
Interesting blog and comments -and all I was looking for was the difference between sarcastic and faceious!
facetious vs sarcasm to the max..I'm not being facetoius when I say ,that our creator was an extraterestial, I mean from another planet and not just everywhere and anywhere like the Bible suggest..but at the same time I,m being sarcastic when I,m quoted as saying mean things about someones God, when I say that he was an alien..so as to avoid facetious sarcasm I simply search for the right Date outside of the church,but inside of a Bar..(LoL)
Maybe 'cause some of us feel offended.
Facetious is meant to make light of a serious subject while sarcasm is used in a negative context. Sarcastic comments are usually digs to people or situations to show discontent but covered in "nice" so it can't be held against them technically .
This helps me grasp the differences: when you think about the words literally without the undertone first.
Notice how young children do not understand sarcasm. They take everything literally because they haven't yet noticed the negative undertone. They will actually think that time you had your tooth pulled was a dream come true for years. They can't detect the discontent yet.
So then you think, do children detect facetious comments? No..it's the same thing. You may say something joking about something serious like "I'm a cheeseburger away from a heart attack" and the child may think you are In danger haha. Usually the "too soon" jokes are facetious. It's why people get offended, because the bad event is so fresh that they can't yet handle adding humor to the mix.
Oh my God I died and went to hell. Use the right word whether it's a polysyllabic or not. When speaking to people it is like a pass in a basketball game it is no good unless it is completed. Judge your audience when you speak.
Oh my God I died and went to hell. Use the right word whether it's a polysyllabic or not. When speaking to people it is like a pass in a basketball game it is no good unless it is completed. Judge your audience when you speak.
Haters gonna hate!
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