Wait Signals Predict Sarcasm in Online Debates

Abstract

We examined the predictive value of wait signals for sarcasm in online debate forums. In a corpus comparison we examined the word frequency of um and uh across six corpora. In general, there were far more fillers in spoken corpora than written corpora. We also found that the proportion of ums to uhs varied by corpus type. In Experiment 1 we tested whether the inclusion of um or uh at the beginning of online debate forum posts led to higher probability of those posts being classified as sarcastic by Amazon Mechanical Turk workers. We found that posts beginning with these items were twice as likely to be labeled sarcastic. In Experiment 2 we tested fillers and ellipses in the middle of posts. We found that posts including these items were approximately three to five times more likely to be labeled sarcastic. We compared results to other signals like the word obviously and quotation marks. Signals that indicate delay in written communication cue readers to non-literal meaning.

Oh, SO Sarcastic: Diverse Strategies for Being Sarcastic

“…Adding an emoticon or emoji may replace some of the visual behaviors that people use to display sarcasm such as a blank face in sitcom actors' displays (Attardo et al, 2003) or mouth movements used by dyads discussing sarcasm-inducing topics with each other (Caucci & Kreuz, 2012; Rockwell, 2001). Analogues of some of these behaviors can be translated into text, such as by typing um , ellipses, or repeated letters to indicate prosodic features which auditorily would be a slowed-down rate of speaking or a stretching out of a word (D’Arcey et al, 2019). In the current study, the strategy of emphasis, which included capitalization and adding extra letters to words, can be seen as analogues of loudness or elongation, and was used by communicators to indicate sarcasm.…”

“…Interjections like gee and gosh , for example, predict the presence of sarcastic content in novels (Kreuz & Caucci 2007), as do patterns like wow , oh really , and I love it when in internet arguments (Oraby et al, 2017). Writing words like um or uh and using punctuation like ellipses and quotes has also been associated with sarcasm (D’Arcey et al, 2019). From the presence of these patterns, other commonly collocated patterns can be derived from large corpora.…”

Look, Dude: How hyperpartisan and non-hyperpartisan speech differ in online commentary

“…The same features can be identified in spontaneous speaking and spontaneous writing. For example, although they are more prevalent in speaking, discourse markers and fillers can still be found in writing (Fox Tree, 2015) – although their uses may prompt different interpretations, such as consideration of sarcastic intent (D’Arcey et al, 2019). In addition to word usage, sentence structure changes depending on spontaneity.…”

“…For example, slang and taboo language were more common in spoken communication (Jay and Jay, 2013; Moore, 2004), although they could also be found in spontaneously hand-written notes, such as yearbook entries (Moore, 2004) and bathroom graffiti (Green, 2003). In addition to spontaneity, writing was associated with formal language, and speaking with informal language (Massaro, 2015) – though writing on internet forums may be more like informal language than formal language (D’Arcey et al, 2019; Fox Tree et al, 2011). Today, with the prevalence of spontaneously-written communication, elements that were formerly the domain of speaking have found their way into many forms of writing, such as newspaper comments sections (Coe et al, 2014).…”

Regional Variants Of The Russian Literary Language: Situation In Sevastopol

“…The studies show that in modern urban language environment, especially among young people, due to constant contact between English and local Slavic languages, in particular Macedonian, some kind of anti-language springs into existence (Neshkovska, 2020). Besides, functioning of the language in discourses generated by urban surrounding gives rise to special form of modality which is peculiar for people of certain professions both in Russian (Nemickienė, 2019) and in English (D'Arcey et al, 2019). Researchers have witnessed active pragmaticalisation of some speech patterns (Uryson, 2020), in particular those of saying goodbye (Bobrik, 2021).…”