Sarcasm Punctuation Mark

A US company has created a punctuation mark that it hopes will be used to express sarcasm. It can be downloaded for a small charge and then inserted into documents with a Ctrl key command. The company proposes that the SarcMark can be used to avoid confusion in emails:

Anyone concerned that the irony of their email or text message might not be appreciated by its recipient can use the symbol to close their sentence, thereby avoiding awkward misunderstandings.

The symbol – a dot inside a single spiral line – can be installed onto any PC running Windows 7, XP or Vista, as well as Macs and Blackberry mobile devices.


Link | Image: SarcMark

Ownership and distribution over new punctuation marks sounds like it might become a new trend this century if this is mildly successful, but I'm perfectly fine with "/sarcasm" if I need to explain myself thanks.
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Reminds me, somewhat, of the lecturer who was explaining that though a double negative makes a positive, a double positive doesn't make a negative..

"Yeah, right." came a call from the audience.
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but the whole thing defeats the whole concept.. maybe we need something after a full stop, so everybody can be sure that we really finished the sentence. /the real end, really
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Oh, thank goodness! I'm sure all the moronic peons I communicate with will be able to interpret this new, elucidating symbol easily, rather than having to muddle through the extra 11 letters it takes to write "note sarcasm," or-- heavens forbid-- utilize reading comprehension.
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But if others don't have that SarcMark installed in their computer, will they be able to see it or will it come out as gibberish like other specialized fonts?
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if they really misunderstand, maybe wey can follow it up with an actual phone call....remember that folks. the way we used to communicate. our social skills are going down the drain. /sarcastic
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It will be so much easier for me to communicate with people now that I have a proprietary mark to purchase and use on those that have never seen it before. I really can't think of a better solution myself...
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I don't get it. How is that symbol supposed to represent sarcasm? Is it supposed to be a smiley face upside down? The interrobang which was a combination of ! and ? made sense. Of course, it didn't catch on..
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Why make it proprietary? Surely a punctuation mark you want to propogate widely should be free to acquire. Otherwise we may end up in a crazy typographic downward spiral with !TM or "Patent Pending.

Chella
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Charging for the privilege of using an ultimately superfluous form of punctuation with no existing cultural significance is a great way to ensure cultural penetration of their symbol.
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This is a joke right?
"SarcMark - Tell them how you really feel"

Here's how I really feel about this: ,,!,,
Mark that.

(Btw, it you wanted to tell someone how you really feel you wouldn't be using sarcasm in the first place.)
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That can't possibly catch on. Bad design. It looks too much like the @ symbol and when hand written will always be confused for that. Also a bad idea to place a dot so close to the lines. A dot works on letters where it is clearly separate from the rest of the letter (i,j) Try to put a dot in the middle of an m and you`re asking for trouble.
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This is the typographic faux pas one expects from the creators from a country that has the misfortune to mis-use the English language in the first place. Very surprised a 'smiley' isn't included...
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