Because it's, like, SO IMPORTANT to have the right font.

December 11, 2011 5:41 PM

"Over the internet we yell at each other with ALL CAPS and emphasize with bold and italics, but where is sarcasm? Where is the nuance, the elegance? We say it is time for a change. It's time for a revolution. It's time for a new font style!"

Introducing the sarcastic font.
posted by zardoz (88 comments total)

This post needs a hamburger tag.
posted by hippybear at 5:44 PM on December 11, 2011 [10 favorites]

*slow clap*

I half expected a Rick Roll, but a 503 is almost as good.
posted by zomg at 5:45 PM on December 11, 2011 [4 favorites]

Yeah, great idea, this will totally work.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 5:45 PM on December 11, 2011 [42 favorites]

Yes, nuance and elegance can only be attained by signalling via font exactly when you're being sarcastic.
posted by Bromius at 5:45 PM on December 11, 2011 [15 favorites]

I've said this before, but the best part about being sarcastic is when people can't tell if you're being sarcastic.
posted by empath at 5:47 PM on December 11, 2011 [33 favorites]

Google webcache here, which even has the .ttf font cached for download as well.

SPOILERS - basically, just a font that seems to tilt left where a regular italic would tilt right.
posted by Nutri-Matic Drinks Synthesizer at 5:47 PM on December 11, 2011

Oh man, this is perfect because we've all been marking everything up with <sarcasm> tags already! Talk about backwards compatible.
posted by michaelh at 5:47 PM on December 11, 2011 [6 favorites]

I've said this before, but the best part about being sarcastic is when people can't tell if you're being sarcastic.

It depends. If they call you out on your stupid sarcastic opinion, you get to point out you put one over on them.

However, sometimes they just silently think you are an asshole and say nothing. :)
posted by furiousxgeorge at 5:48 PM on December 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

Mild correction, this isn't left-leaning italic, this is left-leaning oblique. Thus it isn't so much a font as a style.
posted by anateus at 5:48 PM on December 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

Oh man. If you need a new font to get your point across, you should probably be spending more time working on your rhetoric than your typography.
posted by auto-correct at 5:49 PM on December 11, 2011 [11 favorites]

Yeah, fantastic idea. It's not like the point of sarcasm as humor is precisely its resemblance to serious speech or anything.
posted by RogerB at 5:50 PM on December 11, 2011 [4 favorites]

Great point, thanks for your valuable insight, nobody else saw that.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 5:51 PM on December 11, 2011 [8 favorites]

CAPS LOCK IS HOW I FEEL INSIDE RICK
posted by vidur at 5:51 PM on December 11, 2011 [17 favorites]

Hasn't every awkwardly self aware adolescent trying to flirt on gchat engaged in a too meta conversation with the object of their affection about how hard it is to convey nuance online and man we really need a sarcasm font?

No? Just me?
posted by telegraph at 5:53 PM on December 11, 2011 [7 favorites]

Why do you hate the SarcMark?
posted by briank at 5:54 PM on December 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

This is a great idea. No seriously. Really. WHAT STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT.
posted by odinsdream at 5:54 PM on December 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

YOU HAVE SOMETHING IN YOUR TEETH.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 5:55 PM on December 11, 2011

telegraph, definitely not just you.
posted by troublesome at 5:55 PM on December 11, 2011

thanks for your valuable insight, nobody else saw that

and obviously it's not fair for people to agree with each other, in a sarcasm thread of all places
posted by RogerB at 5:56 PM on December 11, 2011

Are you being sardonic?
posted by furiousxgeorge at 5:57 PM on December 11, 2011

This would require me to know when I'm being sarcastic or genuine in any given sentence. That ship sailed a long time ago.
posted by naju at 5:58 PM on December 11, 2011 [42 favorites]

what we need in this world is more sarcasm {/}
posted by edgeways at 6:00 PM on December 11, 2011

I think my only issue with this is sometimes I want to be sarcastic and emphasize something. That would just look like normal text.
posted by michaelh at 6:00 PM on December 11, 2011 [9 favorites]

If everyone used a sarcasm font then it would fail to be sarcasm so in order to be sarcastic you would have to use a new sarcasm sarcasm font and this would lead to infinite regress. I saw this happening in chat rooms 10 years ago with the number of quotation marks surrounding the acronym IDM. It got messy.
posted by pmcp at 6:00 PM on December 11, 2011

small is how i feel inside, rick
posted by SPrintF at 6:01 PM on December 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

I tried looking up the acronym IDM, and the best match is Intelligent Dance Music.

"IDM"

""IDM""

Yep. Definitely that.
posted by odinsdream at 6:02 PM on December 11, 2011

Like I care.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 6:03 PM on December 11, 2011

Where is sarcasm? On the internet?

Gee, I don't know.
posted by robcorr at 6:04 PM on December 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

This is just a great idea.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 6:08 PM on December 11, 2011

Perhaps sarcasm is not the right word for it, but this font is definitely useful. There's textual iconicity in it's backwards-leaning stance. Bold is all, HEY LOOK AT ME. I'M BIG! Italics are tripping over themselves, as if the letters are racing to get to the point. But this guy, it's the perfect font for the following:

Slow down, Tubby, we ain't on the moon yet!
You sure you want my help?
It's not you, it's me.
No.
posted by iamkimiam at 6:08 PM on December 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

The whole point behind sarcasm is that only a certain audience should get it. Using this font would totally give the game away.
posted by arcticseal at 6:09 PM on December 11, 2011

this is why we can't have nice things
posted by dixiecupdrinking at 6:09 PM on December 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

This is definitely either a double or close to one. I remember because one of my most-favorite comments dealt with the fact that the 'Sarcastic Font' evokes the Scooby-Do gang making a scooby-getaway. But now I can't really find it :(
posted by muddgirl at 6:09 PM on December 11, 2011

The whole point behind sarcasm is that only a certain audience should get it.

Yes. The Roots know about trying to walk that fine line.
posted by hippybear at 6:14 PM on December 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

I'd only use that font to be ironic about my sarcasm.
posted by jscalzi at 6:15 PM on December 11, 2011 [7 favorites]

Oh, it was a Metatalk post - carry on.
posted by muddgirl at 6:15 PM on December 11, 2011

Why stop with a sarcasm font? I want a font for a stereotypical 1920's gangster voice.

Now listen here, see.
posted by dephlogisticated at 6:17 PM on December 11, 2011 [13 favorites]

I would also accept one for a fast-talking newsreel announcer.
posted by dephlogisticated at 6:19 PM on December 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

This is the greatest thing ever.
posted by double block and bleed at 6:24 PM on December 11, 2011

What we really need is a Sarcastic Superhero... oh wait, The Tick found one.
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:28 PM on December 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

I thought Comic Sans was the font for sarcasm.
posted by device55 at 6:33 PM on December 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

Yes. The Roots know about trying to walk that fine line.

Hah, more like referential humor when it was unanticipated that the reference would be widely known.

Sarcastic would have been like playing this.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 6:35 PM on December 11, 2011

I need this about as much as I need rain on my wedding day.
posted by maxwelton at 6:35 PM on December 11, 2011 [5 favorites]

Guys, guys, please...these folks are trying really hard to come up with a useful way to express sarcasm. They're trying to help us. I just think we should all be a bit more positive about it, that's all.
posted by PlusDistance at 6:39 PM on December 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

WHat if that font is my normal font? Huh? What if I have a condition?
posted by Navelgazer at 6:42 PM on December 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

Are you being sardonic?

No but I am being facetious.
posted by louche mustachio at 6:43 PM on December 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

[This is good]
posted by pompomtom at 6:49 PM on December 11, 2011

yeah, real good.
posted by wilful at 6:53 PM on December 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

How about a font for sincerity?
posted by JaredSeth at 6:55 PM on December 11, 2011

No but I am being facetious.

I find your mordancy offensive.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 6:57 PM on December 11, 2011

How about a font for sincerity?

I'd get behind this idea except I'm pretty sure I'd never use it.
posted by clavier at 6:58 PM on December 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

I've got a nice copy of the Zhuangzi done in the font of wisdom.
posted by Abiezer at 6:59 PM on December 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm pretty sure this "already exists". It's also called "unnecessary quotes."
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:59 PM on December 11, 2011

Dave Foley really likes it.
posted by Burhanistan at 7:01 PM on December 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

Being facetious is more fun anyway.
posted by NMcCoy at 7:04 PM on December 11, 2011

Oh, no one has \ever\ come up with a modification of a typeface that is a left-leaning italic. This has \never\ been used in Arabic or German typeface collections before.
posted by clvrmnky at 7:07 PM on December 11, 2011

Bless your heart for sharing a site that was made in 2004, zardoz.
posted by iconomy at 7:07 PM on December 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

basically, just a font that seems to tilt left where a regular italic would tilt right.

but let's face it - people who tilt left have all the reason in the world to be sarcastic these days
posted by pyramid termite at 7:07 PM on December 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

Honestly, I quite like this.
posted by planet at 7:18 PM on December 11, 2011

Being facetious is more fun anyway.

Facetious is upside-down.
posted by michaelh at 7:19 PM on December 11, 2011

So combining All-Caps with left-leaning italics would make you a sarcastic loudmouth?

Hooray, we now have an official font for Youtube comments.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 7:43 PM on December 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

We already have the percontation point, interrobang and the irony mark. Why would we need this font‽
posted by zephyr_words at 7:44 PM on December 11, 2011

This should appeal to jaded members of "Generation X."
posted by drjimmy11 at 8:09 PM on December 11, 2011

You've obviously never heard of the SarcMark®

(previously)
posted by empatterson at 8:10 PM on December 11, 2011

I'm with anateus. There is absolutely no need for a new font or typeface to do this. All we need is a CSS font property called something like like "left-oblique" to tilt whatever font you're using to the left. <sarcasm>I am *shocked* that CSS doesn't already have this property. </sarcasm>
posted by exphysicist345 at 8:22 PM on December 11, 2011

I thought Verdana was the go-to sarcasm font on Metafilter.
posted by mazola at 8:27 PM on December 11, 2011 [4 favorites]

All we need is a CSS font property called something like like "left-oblique" to tilt whatever font you're using to the left.

Perfect! After all I don't want to have to stop using Comic Sans just because I'm being sarcastic.
posted by mstokes650 at 9:21 PM on December 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

I really can't tell if they're serious about this.
posted by contraption at 9:26 PM on December 11, 2011

I've been using tildes for the past few months and it seems to work pretty well. Backward tilting font seems to be way more difficult to read.
posted by amwelles at 9:39 PM on December 11, 2011

This is an idea I can see myself getting behind and then pushing right over a cliff.
posted by From Bklyn at 10:53 PM on December 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

This will be at least as successful as the satire font that English newspapers started using in 1730 after all those Irish babies were eaten.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 11:45 PM on December 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

Some people have written write 'backhand', left leaning handwriting, for many, many years. I am surprised to find MetaFilter so stodgy
posted by Cranberry at 11:58 PM on December 11, 2011

But wont someone think of the liberal media left leaning bias and how upstanding this will make them look.
And worse episode ever.
posted by dprs75 at 1:54 AM on December 12, 2011

I like this a lot. No really. I like is so much. It's a really worthwhile post. There is nothing I would rather be reading.

If you have to use an exclamation mark or sarcasm mark to get the gist across, the writing is a failure!
posted by choppyes at 3:00 AM on December 12, 2011

Yeah, sure, everybody be sarcastic in a thread about sarcasm.
posted by Pyrogenesis at 3:31 AM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

This fills a much needed hole.
posted by Obscure Reference at 4:23 AM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm with anateus. There is absolutely no need for a new font or typeface to do this. All we need is a CSS font property called something like like "left-oblique" to tilt whatever font you're using to the left. I am *shocked* that CSS doesn't already have this property.

This isn't how CSS works. When you apply font-style: italic, the font face in use needs to have an italic variant available for the display to work. CSS doesn't just lean any font through graphical alteration.
posted by odinsdream at 6:14 AM on December 12, 2011

This isn't how CSS works.

it does. There's an oblique font style attribute, which just tilts the normal font rightward.
posted by empath at 6:18 AM on December 12, 2011

I stand corrected.
posted by odinsdream at 6:53 AM on December 12, 2011

I still haven't been able to find out the name of that font Lessig uses for his powerpoints that looks like an angry teacher slashing his chalk on a chalkboard. In lieu of any clue I have decided to call it tragic sans.
posted by bukvich at 7:37 AM on December 12, 2011

I stand corrected.

I can't think of a situation where anyone should use it, to be honest, but if you're going to have a right oblique, you might as well have a left one, imo.
posted by empath at 7:42 AM on December 12, 2011

Clearly they've never heard of Sarcastica
posted by boygeorge at 8:03 AM on December 12, 2011

p.s. relevant content at 1:30
posted by boygeorge at 8:05 AM on December 12, 2011

Professor Frink does not approve. Way to destroy an entire industry.
posted by Fizz at 8:52 AM on December 12, 2011

I've said this before, but the best part about being sarcastic is when people can't tell if you're being sarcastic.
posted by empath at 1:47 AM on December 12

Except when you're so good at that you get warnings, deletions and time-outs on Metafilter.
posted by Decani at 8:56 AM on December 12, 2011

If I can't use it on Facebook, it's no good to me.
posted by RedEmma at 9:39 AM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

A MetaFilter thread full of sarcastic comments? Wow, I certainly didn't see that coming.
posted by verstegan at 10:31 AM on December 12, 2011

Once I overheard a conversation where a teen-aged girl said "I wish there was like a way you could like text somebody and they could like hear your tone of voice."

This is that in long form.
posted by Gygesringtone at 2:36 PM on December 12, 2011