LG483 Pragmatics (Dr.

Rebecca Clift)
Udiana Puspa Dewi, MA Sociolinguistics
University of Essex
2013

The Study of Internet Sarcasm: The Case of Sarcasm

in News Articles of Perezhilton.com
Udiana Puspa Dewi, MA Sociolinguistics
University of Essex
2013

A. Introduction
Sarcasm is defined by Haiman (1998: 190) as speech genre in which sentence meaning
and utterance meaning are diametrically opposed. Some people argue that, somehow, irony and
sarcasm are the same. But, Rockwell (2006:6) differentiates irony from sarcasm based on their
content. She points out that irony can be used both to make positive comment and negative
comment, while sarcasm is used. Based on her point of view, sarcasm as can be seen as a subcategory of irony.
Sarcasm has been used almost everywhere; in daily communication, television shows,
song lyrics, cartoon, magazine and even on the internet. One of interesting website that employs
sarcasm frequently on its news articles is Perezhilton.com. This website is one of the most
popular websites which published articles about facts, gossip, critics, and news about celebrities
and pop culture. That is why it is very interesting to observe how the sarcasm works in the
internet article and the motives of the writer in using the sarcasm through this website. By
observing the sarcasm in this website, we will be able to understand how to interpret sarcasm and
to determine whether a statement is considered as sarcasm or literal.
B. Sarcasm as Speech Act
Speech acts theory is defined by Searle (1969) as the way an utterance does something.
Yule (1996) emphasizes that the usefulness of speech act analysis is in illustrating the kinds of
things we can do with words and identifying some of the conventional forms we use to perform
specific actions. That is why it is really interesting to use speech acts framework in observing
the motives of sarcasm usage in news article.
Many researchers used different framework in conveying the message and the motives of
sarcasm. Rockwell (2006: 19) assumes that sarcasm can be observed as a speech act by the goals

LG483 Pragmatics (Dr. Rebecca Clift)

Udiana Puspa Dewi, MA Sociolinguistics
University of Essex
2013

it accomplished. She points out that the linguistic behavior of a person who produce a sarcasm
can be determined through Speech Act Theory. Haiman (1998:89) uses the term to sarcastive
to refer a speech act which accomplishes sarcasm. Speech act is divided in three essential
dimensions; locutionary act in the form of meaningful linguistics expression, illocutionary act as
the communicative force or intended message of the utterance, and perlucotionary act as the way
an utterance is interpreted based on the cirumstances (Yule, 1996).
Thus, to figure out the motives of sarcasm used in the internet news article, it is important
to look at the illocutionary force of a sarcastic statement in the news based on the context and
interpretation created from the statement. The illocutionary force in news article works as the
intention or motives from the writer in making the sarcastic statement. Then, the effect that is
interpreted by the reader or the interpretation of the sarcastic statement in the article is seen as
the perlucotionary act.
C. The Motives of Sarcasm on News Article in Perezhilton.com
Sarcasm is used by speaker with several different motives, as it is stated by Rockwell
(2006:50) that the possible motives of sarcasm are varied. There are several articles which
contain sarcasm statement on perezhilton.com. The motives of the writer in making the sarcasm
statement in the article are as follows:
C.1To Criticize
Criticizing is commonly known as the main motive of most of people in using
sarcasm. Tsui (1994: 143) argues criticism as a kind of assessment which gives negative
judgment or evaluation of certain people, events or objects toward the addressee. The use of
sarcasm to criticize in perezhilton.com happen can be seen in the article citation bellow:
(1) So, can people not take pictures of the ocean if Justin Biebers in it?! Cmon!
Source: http://perezhilton.com/2013-12-02-justin-bieber-bodyguard-steal-surferscell-phone-after-taking-pics-of-the-pop-star
Context of the news article:
The article is about the accident where Justin Biebers bodyguards snatch an
Australian surfer who took a picture of Justin Bieber who was surfing in Australia.
Based on the article, it is known that the person was not intentionally following
Justin Bieber to get his picture. He just spontaneously took Justin Biebers picture
because he saw him on the beach.

LG483 Pragmatics (Dr. Rebecca Clift)

Udiana Puspa Dewi, MA Sociolinguistics
University of Essex
2013

The article is considered as sarcasm as it is pointed out by Haiman (1998: 18) that
insincerity of the speaker is a signal of sarcastic utterance. The insincerity comes out in the
locutionary act which is the form of rhetorical question. Based on the context, he used the
interrogative sentence not to get any answers, but he used it to point out his criticism toward
the attitude of Justin Biebers bodyguard. The use of the word Cmon after the sentence
express disappointment which becomes a clue to interpret the sentence is a sarcastic question.
From that we can see the illocutionary force of the utterance is to criticize. The
statement can be interpreted that the writer thinks that it is ridiculous how Justin Biebers
bodyguard snatch a persons camera just because he took a picture of Justin Biebers in the
beach, because in fact, there is no rule or law that prohibit people of taking picture on the
ocean. On the other way, he tried to say that there is no reason for the bodyguard to prohibit
someone from taking Justin Bieber photo when he was in the ocean.
C.2To Soften Criticism
There are some debates about whether of sarcasm is to criticize or to soften the
criticism. In fact both of the motives are found in the news article in perezhilton.com. There
are some cases where the motive of sarcasm usage in the article is to soften criticism. The
following case is one of the cases:
(2) Congrats, humanity. You've found then killed the oldest living creature on the
planet. Shame.
Source:
http://perezhilton.com/teddyhilton/2013-11-18-scientists-kill-worlds-oldestcreature-by-accident#sthash.Dqxzog6o.dpbs
Context of the news article:
The article is about the researchers who found the oldest calm, but they opened it
to see how old the calm is. The calm dead in the process and they figured out that
the calm is 507 years old and the oldest living creature ever found.
The statement (2) can be clearly seen as sarcasm from the use of the word shame
after the sentence. The contrast of the word congratulation at the beginning of the sentence
and the word shame after the sentence is related to what Haimans (1998) argues that a
sarcastic speaker tries to say I dont mean this through his/her utterance. On the statement,
the word Shame after the sentence is the way the writer said that he does not mean to
congratulate the humanity, in this case, the researchers who found the and killed calm.

LG483 Pragmatics (Dr. Rebecca Clift)

Udiana Puspa Dewi, MA Sociolinguistics
University of Essex
2013

Besides, the use of the word Congratulation is seen as the exaggeration which is a powerful
index of sarcasm (Haiman, 1998: 33).
From the context and the locutionary produced by the writer, it can be seen that the
illocutionary force of the statement is to criticize in softer way. Instead of saying the
researchers are stupid, he accomplished his motive through the implication of the
chronological arrangement how the researchers tried to find the oldest creature and then they
killed it to discover the age. Then he made the criticism clearer after the sentence by using
the word Shame to make clear of his point in the previous sentence.
C.3To Express Emotion
Sarcasm is also considered as a powerful tool in expressing the writers emotion
toward certain events on the news, as it is found in the statement bellow:
(3) Hmm, first you put a treasured living creature in harm's way and then you try to
cover it up, and admit to malpractice in an email! SUCH A FLAWLESS HUMAN
BEING.
Source:
http://perezhilton.com/teddyhilton/2013-11-26-american-humane-associationagent-confesses-animals-were-harmed-during-filming-life-of-pi
Context of the news article:
The statement is quoted from the article about how an agent of American Humane
Association let a tiger which was used for Life of Pi movie almost dead during
the shooting. The agent did not tell this accident during the shooting, but after the
movie released and broadcasted worldwide, she just told how the tiger almost
drown during the movie shooting.
The sarcasm of the statement (3) can be seen on the second sentence. The content on
the sentence is somehow sounds like a compliment, but of course it is not intended to praise
the agent of American Humane Association. The compliment is written in capital letters to
make clear the emotion of the writer about the accident. Haiman (1998: 39) classifies this
type of sarcasm as a heavy sarcasm. He describes this kind of sarcasm is a combination of
exaggerated stress and relatively monotous intonation. In the form of written expression, we
can see the exaggerated stress in the use of capital letter SUCH A FLAWLESS HUMAN
BEING.

LG483 Pragmatics (Dr. Rebecca Clift)

Udiana Puspa Dewi, MA Sociolinguistics
University of Essex
2013

Based on the context, it clears that the motives of the writer tried to express his
emotion, how he feel about the accident, in sarcastic way. When he used the word flawless
in the utterance it means the other way around. On the first sentence, he tried to describe that
the AHA agent who was involved in the movie to make sure that the animals used for the
movie unharmed did not do anything when she saw the animal almost drowned, but then she
wrote it on email after the production. So, what he is implied in the second sentence is the
expression of his disappointment toward the accident described in the first sentence. This
emotion evaluates the action of American Humane Association agent who did not stop the
accident during the movie production instead of writing it in email after the production.
Therefore it can be interpret that the sarcasm statement on second sentence is expression
disappointment emotion.
C.4To Persuade
Persuading the reader is considered as another motive of the news article writer of
Perezhilton.com in using the sarcasm statement. Rockwell (2006: 51) explains that
evaluation and persuasion are related, Evaluation implies judgment made by the speaker;
whereas, persuasion implies an attempt by the speaker to get the receiver to agree with the
evaluation.
The case of persuasion through sarcasm in perezhitlon.com news article can be seen
from the case bellow:
(4) Is it just us, or is someone getting just a bit paranoid??! LOLz!
Source
:
http://perezhilton.com/2013-11-18-justin-bieber-party-contractconfidentiality-3-million#sthash.LbnJN6Ak.hY0taEWr.dpuf
Context of the news article
The news is about Justin Bieber who is rumored to pay 3 million to each of all of
his party mates in Brazil to keep a secret on what really happened in the party. It
happened since a Brazilian prostitute who spread Justin Bieber video after the
party.
The statement in (4) is considered as the way the writer persuade the reader to agree
with him. The persuasion is determined in the usage of the word us instead of me. The
writer use the word us to represent not only himself in uttering the statement but also the
readers. In this case, the writer try to implicitly persuade that the reader to agree with his
opinion. The writer tried to speak as the representation of the reader. The statement is

LG483 Pragmatics (Dr. Rebecca Clift)

Udiana Puspa Dewi, MA Sociolinguistics
University of Essex
2013

considered sarcastive since the writer tried to generalize the object of the statement. He
uses the word someone instead of directly said Justin Bieber.
In the statement, the writer also employed what Grice (1975) called as an act of
pretense. Haiman (1998:25) explains the sarcast pretends to an attitude which he does not
feel and expects a privileged audience to recognize that he or she is indeed pretending. The
act of pretense in the statement (4) is the way the writer ask the question as if he does not feel
sure of his evalution when, in fact, he just try to persuade to convince the readers on his
evaluation.
From the context and the usage of the sarcasm, we can interpret the message from the
writer. The words is it just us in the sentence is interpreted as the way the writer said that
we, in this case the readers and him, agree that someone, refers to Justin Bieber, is a little bit
paranoid. The writer tries to persuade people to agree with his evaluation that Justin Bieber is
paranoid through the statement in the beginning of the sentence. Therefore, the whole
statement is interpreted, in literal way that the writer tried to say we are agree that Justin
Bieber is little bit too paranoid, arent we.
C.5To be Funny
Sarcasm is also effectively used as the way to deliver humor in the news article. The
case of sarcasm usage to be funny is described in the example bellow:
(5) But everyone knows the fastest way to a man's heart is to show a lil' nipple!
Okay, okay, so that might not be the fastest way, but we're pretty sure it's high up
on the list!
Source: http://perezhilton.com/2013-11-21-kendall-jenner-harry-styles-onedirection-dinner-date-los-angeles
Context of the news article
The article is about Harry Styles and Kendal Jenner who were caught by paparazzi
hanging out together. Previously Kendal Jenner became headline in various news
website because of her picture where she showed her nipples.
The statement (5) is interpreted as sarcasm because the writer tell a lie and then
confirm it on the second statement. According to Haiman (1998:21) the thing that
differentiate lie and sarcasm is that lie has one single statement contains both message and
metamessage, while in sarcasm there are two clearly separated simultaneous statements. We
can see the simultaneous statements on the statement (5). On the first statement, he tells a lie
by saying that showing nipple is the fastest way to get a mans heart. But then, on the second

LG483 Pragmatics (Dr. Rebecca Clift)

Udiana Puspa Dewi, MA Sociolinguistics
University of Essex
2013

statement he makes clear that the first statement is false. The case in statement (5) is almost
similar to what we previously found on the statement (2) where the writer used the following
statement to make clearer his point in the first statement. But, somehow, the statement (5)
and statement (2) has different motives.
Unlike the statement (2) where the motives of sarcasm usage is to soften the critics, in
statement (5) it is interpreted that the writer just tries to make a humorous statement without
intention to criticize. Based on the news article context, the writer is just try to describe that
showing nipples is a good way to get a mans attention. But he wrapped his intention in a
false statement so that it sounds funny for the readers. Therefore, it is clear that the motives
of the writer in the statement (5) is to be funny by making humorous statement.
C.6 To Mock
Another motive of sarcasm usage in the internet news article is to mock the object of
the article. There is a differentiation between mocking and criticizing. Criticizing is intended
to make a person do something better or to make person change the way they do thing, while
mocking is intended to make fun of the object. One of the cases of the use of sarcasm to
mock people in perezhilton.com is the statement bellow:
(6) Nothing says serious model like a person who knows that nipples are works of
art too! And since thats Kendall Jenner in a nutshell, she got a new modeling
contract!
Source:

http://perezhilton.com/perezitos/2013-11-23-kendall-jenner-gets-

modeling-deal-after-showing-nipples/?from=readmore_perezhilton
Context of the news article:
The article is about Kendal Jenner who was recently get a modeling contract after
she uploaded a picture of herself showing her nipples on her social media account.
The sarcasm in the statement (6) appears in the use of the quotation marks () in the
words serious model. The writer tried to be sarcastic by emphasizing the words serious
model which can be considered as the exaggeration. The exaggeration in this case is a clear
index of sarcasm (Haiman, 1998: 33). When an exaggeration is employed in the sarcastic
context, the speaker means the other way around from what he said.
The sentences are arranged to create an analogy to compare Kendal Jenner and what
the writer described as serious model. From the context of the article, we can interpret that
the statement from the writer means that Kendal Jenner only get her new modeling contract

LG483 Pragmatics (Dr. Rebecca Clift)

Udiana Puspa Dewi, MA Sociolinguistics
University of Essex
2013

from showing the nipples on the social media. The motive of the writer in using the analogy
to create sarcastic statement is to mock that Kendal Jenner is not a serious model.

C.7To Provoke
Provocation is found as one of the motives of sarcasm usage in internet news article.
Provoke are somehow overlapping with persuasion, but based on the sarcasm usage on the
news article bellow, the differentiation of the two can be seen clearer.
(7) Now we're not for sure if there are romantic sparks lighting up here or if Harry has
shown Kendall his 1D, but how often are two very good looking, young people
just friends??
Source:

http://perezhilton.com/2013-11-21-kendall-jenner-harry-styles-one-

direction-dinner-date-los-angeles
The sarcasm of the statement above is in the way the writer used the question but
how often are two very good looking, young people just friends??. It can be interpreted that
the motive of the writer is to provoke reaction and speculation from the reader. Now, the
differentiation of the act of persuading and provoking can be seen from here. In the
persuasion of data (4) the writer just tried to make the reader agree with him, while in this
data (7), the writer led the reader into certain speculation. People, in this case the readers,
will set their own opinion on their heads based on the provocation gave through the
statement. So, to make clear, in provoking, the writer tries to make the readers making
speculation and opinion, while in persuading the writer tries to make the readers agree with
his or her opinion.
Therefore, the sarcastic expression in the sentence above can be interpreted as a
suspicion. The writer tries to perform a suspicion in the form of interrogative sentence so that
the reader will make their opinion and speculation in answering that question.
D. Coclusion
From the analysis of sarcasm usage in the internet news article above, it can see that there
are seven major motives of the writer in using sarcasm statement. The motives are to criticize, to
soften criticism, to express emotion, to persuade, to be funny, to mock, and to provoke. The
important point that we can see from the interpretation of the sarcasm in the news article is that
context of article plays main role in determining whether a statement is sarcastic or not.

LG483 Pragmatics (Dr. Rebecca Clift)

Udiana Puspa Dewi, MA Sociolinguistics
University of Essex
2013

In observing sarcasm as a speech act, context of the news, the sarcasm object, and the
motives of the sarcasm speaker are very crucial things. By finding out the motives and the
context of the news, a sarcastic expression can be interpreted. But sometimes, in some other
news articles, the reader also need to share similar background knowledge about the object of
sarcasm being evaluated, such as who the object is, what he/she did before, his/her reputation,
and any related news about him/her. It is because in some news, the content of the article do not
provide enough information to make the readers fully understand the sarcastic expression if they
do not have any knowledge about the sarcastic object very well.

References
Grice, H.P. (1975). Logic and conversation. In P. Cole & J.L. Morgan (Eds.), Syntax and
semantics: Vol.3, Speech acts. New York: Academic Press.
Haiman, J. (1998). Talk is cheap: Sarcasm, alienation, and the evolution of language. New York:
Oxford University Press
Rockwell, P. (2006). Sarcasm and other mixed messages: The ambiguous way people use
language. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press, Ltd
Searle, J. (1969). Speech acts: An essay in the philosophy of language. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Tsui, Ami B.M. (1994). English conversation. Oxford: Oxford University of Press
Yule, G. (1996). Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press