Wait, Someone Expects People To Pay To Let People Know When They're Being Sarcastic? That'll Work

from the [sarcasm] dept

Fri, Jan 15th 2010 7:39pm — Mike Masnick

We've pointed out in the past how unfortunate it is that so few browsers recognize the sarcasm markup tag in HTML, because sarcasm sometimes gets missed in text. Apparently some random company is trying to fix that by creating an explicit sarcasm punctuation mark, called the SarcMark, made up of a squiggle around a dot. I'm hoping the whole effort itself is sarcastic, because the company has apparently registered a trademark on it (no, you can't use that punctuation!) and is trying to get you to pay $1.99 for a special app to let you use the mark. What a great deal! I'll buy 6!

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Filed Under: sarcasm

48 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2010 @ 7:47pm

I'm sure they will make millions /s
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:Lobo Santo (profile), 15 Jan 2010 @ 7:57pm

Amazing
What a great idea! /s
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jan 2010 @ 7:58pm

As someone has pointed out on that link, such a thing has already been invented.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony_mark

and guess what. No patents required. That's right, contrary to corporate and governmental belief, not every idea needs a patent to exist.
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:), 15 Jan 2010 @ 8:20pm

⸮⸮
Aham!⸮
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slander (profile), 15 Jan 2010 @ 9:08pm

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
(o_O)
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G Thompson (profile), 15 Jan 2010 @ 10:19pm

Wow.. And here I have been using

o¿o
all these years.. and without charging a cent for people to read it either... damn

Now will the swirl done in mirror image be called an ANTI sarcastic remark? o¿o
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Todd, 15 Jan 2010 @ 10:30pm

Why not just use a special font?
I think all sarcasm should be rendered in a special font, like Sarcastica (tm) and Sarcastica Heavy. cf. Ironica Oblique.
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sinsi (profile), 15 Jan 2010 @ 10:57pm

Re:
Unfortunately, I think they will make millions...
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RT Cunningham (profile), 16 Jan 2010 @ 12:20am

Why not just an explicit HTML tag?
I don't get it. Why not just:

<sarcasm></sarcasm>

??
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Dav, 16 Jan 2010 @ 2:56am

Fantastic idea, I have been waiting years for somone to do this.

Now I wont be offended every time I go online as I will be able to recognise sarcasm!
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Burgos, 16 Jan 2010 @ 3:00am

From the article:

<blockquote>...the new punctuation mark was not a gimmick and had serious potential applications, such as allowing deaf people to pick up sarcasm in subtitles.</blockquote>

Fix'd:

<sarcasm>...the new punctuation mark was not a gimmick and had serious potential applications, such as allowing deaf people to pick up sarcasm in subtitles.</sarcasm>
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Chunky Vomit, 16 Jan 2010 @ 3:39am

great... now those of us with poor handwriting will have another confusing mess (yes, some of us still have to and write for a living.)

"So what is that, your email address or are you being a douche again?"
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The Infamous Joe (profile), 16 Jan 2010 @ 5:03am

Woosh.
Odd, I thought they were being sarcastic. That mark was everywhere, after all.
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Rob T, 16 Jan 2010 @ 5:22am

Hey, I bought something like 6 million frownies from Despair.com a while back: http://www.despair.com/frownies.html

Looks like their free offer is still valid!
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Jan 2010 @ 6:24am

Re: Why not just an explicit HTML tag?
It's already patented.
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Robin Smith (profile), 16 Jan 2010 @ 8:42am

Yeah but...
...⸮ was invented in France so it doesn't count. Freedom fries anyone?/⸮
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Jan 2010 @ 8:49am

what a great post!
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Anti -- Sarc, 16 Jan 2010 @ 9:13am

sarcasm
Isn't this when a non-profit open source group steps in a developes a similar yet different "sarcmarc", calls it the sarcas-Stick and simply lobbies to have it added to the Western ISO keyboard standard?

The SarcMarc seems vaguely similar to an anpersand "@" since it's already in the system... and FREE... couldn't we just reappropriate it's use or as we like to do in the english language, use something that means something else and use it for a different meaning... I mean seriously, we do it all the time for words, why not symbols!

The SarcMark is a GREAT idea@ This company is a revolutionary force in punctuation venue@ I look forward to the visionary like contributions they will be providing to society in years to come!@!@

I like it! I'm gonna use the open source sarcasm mark from now on! ...::: Sarcasm Mark: "@" :::...
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Bill Doddeer, 16 Jan 2010 @ 9:17am

What happened to
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davebarnes (profile), 16 Jan 2010 @ 9:30am

You made me laugh this morning
The SarcMark is a GREAT idea@
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Jan 2010 @ 9:52am

Im getting 10 ! /s
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slander (profile), 16 Jan 2010 @ 10:54am

Re:
It was superseded by
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notthe600 (profile), 16 Jan 2010 @ 11:01am

Squiggle around a dot. How exactly do you squiggle around a dot? However you do it I'm going to, and then wait to be sued. I'll be famous (squiggle around a dot)
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Jan 2010 @ 3:42pm

Re: Re:
nope. They will make "millions'
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DTatum, 16 Jan 2010 @ 3:47pm

Seriously...
I got not problem with them trying to sell some people a symbol that might make their lives easier... and more power to em for trying...

As long as they don't try to sue people for not being stupid and using other free methods, or start suing other companies that don't use their symbol and come up with other methodologies...
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xyz, 16 Jan 2010 @ 4:17pm

Re: Seriously...
umm, no - it is quite ridiculous when you think about it for more than a few seconds.

How does one know if a sentence is asking a question? Is there a special character to denote this? I do not know of any trademark upon the character "?"

There is a character which denotes the end of a sentence. I have not heard of any trademark upon the character ".".

Is there a need for a special character to express the fact that you are being sarcastic? Let's assume there is.
Why does it need to be trademarked?
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Derek Kerton (profile), 16 Jan 2010 @ 4:18pm

I don't get it
Mike,

"That'll work"

Why do you think it will work?

I think you're wrong. I don't see a need.
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Linotype Hell, 16 Jan 2010 @ 5:24pm

if you have to denote your sarcasm, you're not doing it very well. It's the equivalent of calling yourself a "playa" which by definition means your are not the aforementioned "playa"
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Andy Roon (profile), 16 Jan 2010 @ 7:57pm

sigh.
I'm ashamed to admit that this company is from my state. @Linotype Hell: agreed. If you need to explain, you're doing it wrong.
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SarcoPoet, 17 Jan 2010 @ 3:59am

Don't Learn The Hard Way!
Here I sit doing time
pirating punctuation
my heinous crime.
As remorse slowly sets in
I realize my error
Oh what a fool I've been.
Let my plight a lesson be
don't make a mark
without paying the fee.

/Punctuation,Uppercase letters, and rhymes used with permission/
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Chris in Utah (profile), 17 Jan 2010 @ 5:20am

[] Should it be the reverse of italics that goes here instead of tilted 45 to the right. Off titler to the left? []
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sandrina, 17 Jan 2010 @ 9:09am

This is ridiculous.
But I don't blame them for trying because there are other ridiculous things out there which require to be paid for.
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Dylan McCall, 17 Jan 2010 @ 9:11am

Those imbeciles!
There already IS a sarcasm mark, and a quick visit to Wikipedia will find it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony_mark

Personally, I think it's a GREAT idea؟
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2010 @ 12:51pm

Re: Those imbeciles!
Oh, the irony of your post.
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bvob, 17 Jan 2010 @ 2:23pm

And what if the sarcasm tags are used sarcastically?
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Sarcastic Clown, 17 Jan 2010 @ 2:48pm

What in the.....
Yup, there's room in my budget for that.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2010 @ 5:39pm

So an individual or a small group of individuals has/have created a program that maps a character of his/their design such that it will appear as a symbol in documents on screen and in print. For this he/they charge $1.99.

I am trying to put my finger on why this is deemed significant such that it merits an article.
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Doctor Strange, 17 Jan 2010 @ 6:43pm

Re:
I am trying to put my finger on why this is deemed significant such that it merits an article.

You must be new here. This article is yet-more evidence that so-called intellectual property laws are OUT OF CONTROL and therefore they all need to be abolished. Every week or two, there's a new story about some crazy cat lady who has somewhere between four and six DSM-IV-certified mental illnesses who brings an absolutely frivolous lawsuit against someone claiming, among other things, some sort of IP violation. The other claims may include telekinetic harassment, infringement of one's right to defecate openly in a public park, interference with the manufacture and use of tinfoil hats, and so on.

This is the latest in that vein. Eventually, the weight of all the crazy cat ladies and Sarc-Mark vendors will convince you that the only solution is simply to abolish all the laws in this area so we don't have this kind of frivolous-time wasting ever agin.
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Chad, 17 Jan 2010 @ 11:39pm

bad sense of humor
Sometimes your co-worker's lame attempt at humor just can't be considered funny, no matter how many squiggles; dots; lines; or marks they add to it.

"How come you didn't find that funny? Didn't you see my SarcMark?"

You can't fix failed sarcasm with punctuation.
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Mike Masnick (profile), 18 Jan 2010 @ 12:23am

Re:
I am trying to put my finger on why this is deemed significant such that it merits an article.

Your lack of a sense of humor is duly noted.
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Valkor, 18 Jan 2010 @ 6:14am

Re:
That's the first thing that popped into my head, too.
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Valkor, 18 Jan 2010 @ 6:16am

Re: What in the.....
I bought one, but I already used it. I'm not sure when I'll be able to afford a few more for my next round of comment postings.

I'm afraid someone like Dark Helmet could go broke using these... (/s) ;) etc.
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Valkor, 18 Jan 2010 @ 6:21am

Re: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
If anyone tries to send me a message with this in it, or a 19th century "Irony Mark" for that matter, I'm going to beat him with a sarcas-stick.
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Dark Helmet (profile), 18 Jan 2010 @ 6:25am

Re: I don't get it
Dammit! You beat me to it!
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Yakko Warner, 18 Jan 2010 @ 8:54am

Prior art?
Seems rather similar to the "cootie shot" (see Billy v. Sarah, Swingset, 1984).
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Russ, 18 Jan 2010 @ 1:15pm

SarcMark is Stolen
Erm... That SarcMark is lifted directly from the Hebrew alphabet...

http://www.mepreport.com/2010/01/web-company-auctions-off-foreign-alphabet/
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BentFranklin (profile), 18 Jan 2010 @ 10:31pm

I didn't know you could sell people the right to use your trademark. Isn't that the opposite of the intent of trademark protection?
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BentFranklin (profile), 18 Jan 2010 @ 10:32pm

Um, or are we supposed to be franchising this mark?
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