Listening: Advanced Pragmatic & Discourse Understanding C2 - Lesson 2: Understanding Implied Meaning, Irony, Humor, and Sarcasm in Highly Nuanced Speech

C2 PRAGMATICS

Irony & Sarcasm

អត្ថន័យបង្កប់ និងការចំអក

🎯 Scenario: A Dinner Party.
Julian (Host): Wealthy, pretentious, loves to brag.
Margot (Guest): Intelligent, bored, enjoys subtle insults.

J

Julian

Intent: Humblebragging. He pretends to complain about being busy, but he is actually boasting about his importance and the merger.

M

Margot

Intent: Sarcasm/Mockery. "My heart bleeds" is an idiom used ironically to mean "I have zero sympathy." She is mocking his ego.

Terms of Nuance:

Humblebrag An ostensibly modest or self-deprecating statement whose actual purpose is to draw attention to one's own admirable or impressive qualities.

Deadpan Deliberately impassive or expressionless (often used for dry humor).

Hyperbole Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Litotes Ironic understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary (e.g., "not bad" for "very good").

Analyze Margot's tone ("My heart bleeds..."):

[Image of emotional spectrum chart]

Sincere Empathy

She genuinely feels bad for Julian's workload.

Sarcastic Hyperbole

She uses extreme exaggeration ("Heart bleeds", "Burden of genius") to show she doesn't believe him.

Polite Indifference

She is ignoring him to change the subject.

Task: Write a witty retort.

Julian says: "This watch? Oh, it's just a little $20,000 trinket I picked up."
Your Goal: Use Understatement (Litotes) or Irony to mock him politely.