Sarcasm! Wow, That's ORIGINAL!
September 30, 2009 John (that's my husband, for you newbies) is an absolute master of sarcasm. This is not a good thing. Half the time even *I* can't tell if he's being sarcastic or not, which has led to more than one tiff around bathing suit season. ("Wow, your butt looks fantastic in that. No, really.")
I think the problem is he's too subtle. If you're going to be sarcastic, and you actually want people to know it, you have to give them some clue. You know, like this:
Is this person really glad you're "here"? No, of course not. Just look at the signs!1) It's misspelled, thereby signifying "your" not worthy of spell check.
2) There is no exclamation point, since that might betray some small enthusiasm over the prospect of your presence. Can't have that, now, can we?
3) The gratuitous quotation marks positively reek of passive aggression. Visions of jilted dates and stranded little leaguers spring to mind.
All that, with only three little words! This baker is superb.
So, how can you, the consumer, incorporate a little sarcasm into your own cake orders? Here are a few handy tips:
1. Add quotation marks to everything you don't really mean.
Just try to read this cake without sounding sarcastic. Yeah. Exactly.3. Misspell their name. (Especially effective when combined with tip #1 or #2.)
Now this is what I like to call a "sarcasm score!" Present this at the after-game dinner and just watch all those mopey, dejected faces turn into bright red, angry ones in no time at all!
Mary Anne E., Angela M., Sarah C., & Janet R., you guys are absolutely "awesome."
- Related Wreckage: Say What?
Reader Comments (75)
"Mellisa" looks familiar. Was she in that Dark Crystal movie?
great "blog post"
The third one I read as "Way to be Bob" at first... talk about even more mean and sarcastic!
looks like poor mellisa has more to worry about than if someone's truly proud of her.
that's one of the worst cases of strabismus i've ever seen (and i was a school nurse for 17 years!).
i'd say a visit to the opthamologist is in order. or i guess you could just smear the icing and go for a dazed look.
I "loved" this post. No, really.
"Way to go Hott Shots" is amazing. That's one step above getting a cake that says "Smooth move X-Lax." Would hate to see the decoration on that one though.
adnoxious.blogspot.com
The lady's face on the second cake's really scaring me. She's just.. staring. Being all "yeah, I'm proud of you I guess".
"Your" just some poser in a parka. :)
Hey, thanks for the Dr. Horrible reference!
I think you'll "enjoy" this comic today: http://wondermark.com/556/
Wow. Also, is it really spelled "Mellisa" and not "Melissa"?
Wow - Melissa really got the shaft with her cake. Her name may be misspelled (Mellisa?) and apparently she is cross-eyed. How flattering!
"Way to Go, Jen!" No, seriously! It was a great entry!
I love sarcasm!
Wow. These cakes are so "good." It's really inspiring to see such outstanding examples of "bakers" with "talent."
I wonder if "Mellisa" is a misspelling, too. If not, it's her parents' fault...
I really "hate it" when "people" use quotation marks for "emphasis."
lol.. I just picture Geoff from Ace of Cakes saying "Way to go Bob..."
And let's not forget the messy handwriting in the first one . . . at first glance, it looked like it said, Glad your "I-pere". (Sorry, I don't know how to really do the quotation marks around a quoted item when said quoted item includes UNNECESSARY quotation marks! (How's that for sarcasm?!)
Wow. Another Dr. Horrible reference! I just fell in love. Again.
Sarcasm..the best! LOL
~Amy B
No wonder Mellisa is cross-eyed. She's trying to figure if this cake makes her nose look big. I'm wondering why is her nose in 3-d? It's very wrong to to use cake to make people feel self-conscous
Of course their proud of Mellisa. Being the first female member of the hair club for men and all!
Bob's cake cracks me up. There is simply no way to say that without sounding like a jerk. Hee.
I especially like the use of regular *and* stone ground dijon mustard icing on the Hott Shots cake.
This is an awesome post. I would love to eat one of these "cakes"
What did poor old Bob "do"? :oP
I am so sorry I missed your Denver signing last night. I wanted to go SO BAD but had a prior commitment. I know you have no idea who I am, but somehow I still feel the need to beg for forgiveness.....
A Devoted Reader
twoandahalfbooklovers.blogspot.com
Woo-Hoo!
"way to go Bob".
LOL!
Youve scored yet another Jen. And hows the "tour" going?
wv: grarp
Quit with the grarping about punctuation and cut the "cake"!
ha ha ha, I love it! No, really, I do!
I am also a master of sarcasm. So much so that my coworkers have requested there be a sign for when I'm being sarcastic. Voila:
http://www.signingsavvy.com/sign/SARCASTIC
We are *so* cool (insert sign here)
Nevermind the fact that the baker misspelled "your." Or, let's hope it's an intended mistake.
"Great" post, Jen. One of your're (sic) "best".
Bob has me laughing so hard it hurts!
It was great meeting you and John last night. I hope you enjoyed your short stay in Denver.
Way to go Jen
Your the "coolest"
Yay for a Dr. Horrible reference!
Made me think of the last episode of Castle with the "your" vs. "you're" debacle:
"Whoever killed this woman also murdered the English language."
I "love" Nathan Fillion.
Dr. Horrible reference in the title for the win.
October is National Sarcastic Appreciation Month. This would've been perfect for tomorrow. "way to go"
;)
"lovin' it"
On my way to work, I pass a bakery advertising "homemade" cakes. So are they really mass-produced in some nasty dingy thousand-cakes-per-hour factory? Apparently not, the lady behind the counter told me they did that so "the sign will 'speak' to our customers"... eek!
MC from NZ
WV: diefo: Someone's gonna diefo abusing de punctuation like dis.
With the Dr. Horrible titel, whats not to love? thanks jen! (and yes, i mean that!)
Thanks again. This site is a guaranteed laugh for me. BTW, the word verification I had to enter says, "flingend."
What the heck does that mean? Sounds obscene.
I don't know what's more sad... these wrecks or the fact that my mother-in-law wouldn't see a problem with them. (My son's birthday card was signed, "All Our Love" - and the quotations were really there.)
I like how the phrase 'Quotation marks: allowing you to tell lies with a clear conscience since 1945.' was IN quotation marks. Does that make it a lie?
*loves the Dr. Horrible reference*
Didn't Kanye West have his name misspelt on his birthday cake, sometime last year I think? And the error wasn't picked up until it was too late, i.e. the birthday boy spotted it for himself.
It must be devastating to have a massive entourage of "friends", only to find that none of them even knows how to spell your name!
Would love to see what the cake looked like, and what the mis-spelling was! Kaney? Kayne?Kanyay?
disasters!! i saw a thank you cake today with a picture of tom hanks and it said T.Hanks
-mandy
-http://www.mandymoorehol.com
What's up with the misplaced apostrophes? No one studies grammar anymore?
wv: droolly. These cakes make me droolly with rage.
You can tell these cakes are heartfelt because they didn't use the sarcasm font.
Re: Adnoxious
Have actually seen a cake for a lacrosse team celebration (Lacrosse is sometimes abbreviated as LAX - get it "LA" plus "X" or cross?) with the delightful sentiment:
Way to Go Lax'ers
No quotation marks needed for that one!
WV: sticali, as in "If you swing your sticali, you are a LAX'er!"