Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Smartasses are smarter

Here’s good news! If you find my snarky award show reviews amusing you are more creative and psychologically well-adjusted than everyone else.

This according to ACADEMICS.

A new ACADEMIC study found that those who make sarcastic remarks and those that enjoy sarcastic remarks have higher IQ’s. And hey, this was a joint study of the Columbia Business School and the Harvard Business School. So we’re not talking the Sarasota Clown College here.

Sarcasm is based on irony, word play and multiple meanings. You have to be bright to come up with sarcastic comments (except for those slacker idiots on TMZ). But it’s not just the snark-meister. The listener must decipher what was meant as opposed to what was actually said. And that takes smarts too.

So are you one of those super intelligent people? Here’s a test:

Did you notice that I capitalized ACADEMIC twice? Did that seem snarky to you? Does this entire post seem tongue-in-cheek? Than congratulations, you’re a brainiac.

Like all skills, they remain sharp with proper use. So I would like to thank the Academy… all Academies. And Red Carpet shows, Seth Mcfarlane, HAWAII 5-0, THE VIEW, 2 BROKE GIRLS, Sarah Palin, Applebee’s, Ricky Gervais, AMERICAN IDOL, Lena Dunham, PETER PAN LIVE, iHeart Radio, Fox News, Whole Foods, Las Vegas, Chelsea Handler, and Texas for keeping me sharp.

I like this article way better than the other one I posted that said writers were nuts and shitty lovers.

19 comments :

The Bumble Bee Pendant said...

You aren't just 'sarcastic'. You are also 'sardonic'.
This paragraph is very sardonic.

"Like all skills, they remain sharp with proper use. So I would like to thank the Academy… all Academies. And Red Carpet shows, Seth Mcfarlane, HAWAII 5-0, THE VIEW, 2 BROKE GIRLS, Sarah Palin, Applebee’s, Ricky Gervais, AMERICAN IDOL, Lena Dunham, PETER PAN LIVE, iHeart Radio, Fox News, Whole Foods, Las Vegas, Chelsea Handler, and Texas for keeping me sharp."

I tend to think that those that can use both sarcasm and sardonic humor are better/smart than those that can do just one. It's an art to use all the quivers.

What's sardonic? Frasier, Hawkeye (to Frank or Charles), Diane and Carla were all quite sardonic.

Peter said...

But, but, I went to Applebee’s when I was in the States and I liked it!

Don't laugh at me!!!

Anonymous said...

More good news for you:

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-03-genetic-link-height-iq.html

Joseph Scarbrough said...

Yep. I've always enjoyed sarcastic humor, bordering on jaded and cynical humor - I really enjoy those celebrity commentary shows, like VH1's old I LOVE [X] series, or truTV's WORLD'S DUMBEST... (up till their retool, when they let go of most of their original cast and brought in people nobody ever heard of before). Oh, and perhaps the virtual king of sarcasm: Nostalgia Critic (Doug Walker).

But if this means I have such a high IQ, why did I suck at math when I was in school?

Anonymous said...

There are those who say sarcasm is a sign of weakness -- One uses when they are embarrassed or uncomfortable by his or her sincerity, so they tell a joke.

John Hammes said...

Always had a fondness for snark, wordplay, puns... even when they work!


However, I once e-mailed ten different puns to some friends, expecting that at least one would make them laugh.

No pun in ten did.

Diane D. said...

LOL, John Hammes.

daniel in Cherry Hill said...

It looks like Jon Miller had a "Elvis is ...of the top of the wall" calls.

daniel in cherry hill said...

http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2016/04/13/172074834/jon-miller-calls-hunter-pence-buster-poseys-friend-again

normadesmond said...

so it is okay to leave snark here?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous

"There are those who say sarcasm is a sign of weakness -- One uses when they are embarrassed or uncomfortable by his or her sincerity, so they tell a joke."

That's like saying urinating is a sign of weakness. I guess it would be if you chose to do it all the time.

Timing is everything.

– Snarky Joe

Anonymous said...

"However, I once e-mailed ten different puns to some friends, expecting that at least one would make them laugh.

No pun in ten did."

You're confusing snark with puns. People enjoy well played snark.

Puns make people hate you. Puns are the short bus of literature.

That's why your grandpa, after suffering a major stroke, lying in bed semi-paralyzed, blood oozing from his eye sockets, can still come up with one.

It's also why his stroke-mates laying in beds around him in the hospital will try to applaud him, with varying success.

It's also why his nurse will shuffle forward to justifiably smother him with a pillow.

–Snarky Joe

DrBOP said...

What did Trump say when he saw the Mexican-American historical demographics?

ACK!...a demic.

(Both a pun, AND snark BEYOND snark......because you have to google "demic" to have a clue.)


Signed:
Graduate Class, Sarasota Institute For Clown Sciences (name updated after Bush affiliation fiasco)

Diane D. said...

Anonymous--Snarky Joe

Actually he used a pun to denigrate puns, and he didn't confuse puns with snark, which you would have known if you had read his first sentence. The problem with snark addicts is they think they are smarter than anyone in the room (and apparently they are, according to Ken's post).

I love irony, which requires wit and intelligence, and produces some of the most delicious humor there is. I'm not so fond of sarcasm, which is frequently designed to cut or give pain.

Anonymous said...

Diane D:
"Actually he used a pun to denigrate puns, and he didn't confuse puns with snark, which you would have known if you had read his first sentence."

Actually, he didn't. He equated puns with snark. These matters of expression aren't equal by any measure, and should be treated as antithetical to one another. Let's review:

"Always had a fondness for snark, wordplay, puns... even when they work!"

This is like saying, "I love dancing in parks like nobody is watching on a summer's day, carrying my laundry to the laundromat naked in a spring rain, and killing puppies with a brick."

You see, the first one is fine, the second is questionable, the third is bad–except in China–where the reverse is true.

Either way, puns are bad, Diane.

The world is watching. Straighten up, and fly right, Diane.

–Snarky Joe

Anonymous said...

Dr. Bop:
"What did Trump say when he saw the Mexican-American historical demographics?

ACK!...a demic.

(Both a pun, AND snark BEYOND snark......because you have to google "demic" to have a clue.)"

No, Dr. Bop.

Puns are thalidomide to snark. Just as with babies, a pun turns snark into a misshapen hyperventilating pile of cross-eyed horror that only it's creator could love.

In the name of literature, just stop it!

–Snarky Joe

Charles H. Bryan said...

While I enjoy top-notch smartassery, I do have to mention this: Smart people can still be nuts and be crappy lovers. Hell, that's the entire premise of THE BIG BANG THEORY. And, I suppose, THE WEST WING.

Diane D. said...

Snarky Joe,

You win! That was hilarious (although you should have acknowledged somewhere that puns are a *type* of wordplay, instead of speaking of them as two different categories of something else).

Anonymous said...

Gosh no, Diane. This was just a small skirmish, and we both won.

Beyond the horizon, the world is on fire.

Welcome to the fight, Diane. This time, I know we'll win!

– Snarky Joe
Pun Detect & Disposal Unit