Filling the Gap
Linguists call it a “lexical gap” when a word doesn’t exist that probably should. Ain’t, for example, was once a perfectly fine contraction for “am not.” Once it fell out of favor, we were left with no first person equivalent of aren’tisn’t, resulting in such ludicrous tag questions as:
I’m really smart, aren’t I?
Yes, I are. But I digress. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to coin an antonym for sarchasm. The “sarchasm,” of course, represents the great gulf between your sarcastic wit and someone else’s understanding (example). But what do you call it when a misunderstanding occurs in reverse, where the other guy says something that sounds outlandish, you chuckle and say “Ha, that’s a good one,” but he was actually being serious?
June 9th, 2009 at 7:13 am
What about “amn’t I”? It sounds pretentious, but I think it fits the bill.
June 9th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
I try to mark my own use of sarcasm on-line, maybe with an emoticon, or a fake html tag. I don’t assume other people will get it, or won’t try to twist it into an agreement.
Sometimes it’s reader stupidity or ill will … and sometimes it is my failure to write well enough.
I don’t assume others will be able to leap the sarchasm.
June 9th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
“Desarche”? Shares a linguistic border with “sarchasm”, fairly fast, no current English meaning. It doesn’t really lend itself to the concept like onomatopoeia does, but the concept’s a not really emotionally tied or connected enough for such to really exist cross cultures.
June 10th, 2009 at 2:39 am
pseudosar?
quasicasm?
sarcolepsy?
miscasm?
anticasm?
sarcablooper?
bunglecasm?
June 11th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Like Pigilito, I have used amn’t before. Then again, cunning linguist that I am, I have coined many words and phrases, such as the verb “combitch,” the etymology of which should be obvious, and “lawning the mow.”
June 11th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
I am, however, completely appalled by the word that shouldn’t be, “horrific.” It should be banned.
June 13th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
“Miscasm” makes the most sense, but I like the sound of “sarcolepsy” the best.