In the clip above, Abed from Community attempts to teach us what makes something sarcastic. Abed’s exaggeration makes this scene particularly funny given that his usual speech is monotonic. Effective sarcasm actually requires changes in all three aspects of prosody, which refers to the timing, word stress, and intonation of speech.
Here is Abed’s sarcastic remark:
Inflection is SO interesting.
If you watch the video clip, you will hear that the word “so” is stressed, differs in pitch, and has a longer duration. Note how Abed further clarifies his apathetic attitude through exaggerated body language and facial expressions.
Watch a clip of Abed’s less effective methods of sarcasm here.
