Sarcasm as Sophistication Purposes of Sarcastic Utterances
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The situation above happens at Max‟s back yard when Caroline and Max are riding Caroline‟s horse named Chestnut. They are talking about Max‟s dream
to have her own cupcake shop and Caroline believes that she is capable in manage the business. Thus, Caroline thinks that she and Max can open the new cupcake
shop soon since it just needs 250 grand to rent the shop, to buy some equipment and the cupcake ingredients.
Meanwhile, Max does not think the same way as Caroline because she does not have any money and it is impossible for saving from her minimum wage.
Besides, Max never plans to make her dream comes true since the condition does not support her to do so. That is why Max uses her sarcastic utterance to reply
Caroline‟s statement. From the utterance, “Yeah. Oh. 250 grand, thats all? Did freakin‟
Chestnut here kick you in the head while I was in Starbucks?” Max wants to express her disagreement with Caroline‟s statement which sounds fun to open a
bakeshop. Contrast with Caroline, Max rarely has so much money in her life so the amount of 250 grand sounds so much and it is non-sense to have it. Caroline,
who comes from a wealth family, feels that 250 grand is not a bug number for her as long as she can manage the business. Since it is non-sense for Max, she gives
her sarcastic utterance with asks whether Caroline‟s head is kicked by her horse when she left because for Max, she looks like a person who is not right in mind.
Max‟s choice to play with the diction of words in delivering her sarcastic utterance counts as sarcasm in a purpose of sophistication. Max as the speaker
wants the hearer to know that she is capable in playing language in her utterance. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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Situation 20
Caroline : I cant believe you guys are still staring over there. Some mothers tend to breast-feed for a lot longer these days. Its called
attachment parenting. Max
: When the kid is that big, its called dating.
Caroline intentionally gives her comment because Oleg, Han, Earl and Max are still starring at the new customer who is a mother and her son. What
makes Oleg, Han, Earl and Max stare at them is that the boy is about 4 years old but her mother still breast-feeding him. It is clearly seen through the table where
Oleg, Han, Earl and Max stand and they stare at how the boy stands beside her mom but a half of his body is inside her mother‟s shirt. They rarely seen that
weird act so that is why they are just standing and watch from the table. Caroline with her well-educated background tries to give her friends an
explanation about the fact that there are some mothers who tend to breast-feed their children longer than it supposed to be and it is called as attachment-
parenting. Meanwhile, Max who does not know about that fact before, tends to ignore what Caroline says. Instead of saying the literal statement in order to
ignore the new fact says by Caroline, Max uses her sarcastic utterance which rhyme well with Caroline‟s utterance.
Max sarcastic ally gives her comment toward the son with “When the kid
is that big, its called dating.
” and the „-ing‟ in the word „dating‟ rhymes well with
Caroline‟s „attachment-parenting‟. Max‟s choice to choose the word which
rhymes well with the word from Caroline indicates the use of sarcasm as PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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sophistication. Max is not only delivers her sarcastic utterance but also shows her ability in playing language.
Situation 26
Han : Max, what is that thing that you have behind your back?
Max : What? No. Nothing.
Han : Yes, right here. pull up the catalog
from Max’s hands the catalog falling down
Caroline : Is that the auction catalog that just fell between your legs? What is this thing doing here? Isnt it enough I have a 2-foot face hair?
Max : Nice, Han. Shes upset again. Happy?
Han : Sorry, I thought we were playing some kind of hiding game.
Max : Oh, reach for me like that again and well be playing a
different game called guess which part of Han I cut off.
”
The context of the situation above is necessary to be involved since sarcasm has the relation with its context. It happens at the diner when Sophie
brings the auction catalog of Caroline‟s family stuffs and furniture. Max understands that Caroline still feels sensitive to things which are related to her old
life, that is why she asks the catalog from Sophie and hides it behind her back when Caroline suddenly comes and talks to Sophie.
Han, who does not know what Max tries to do, innocently asks her about what is the thing behin
d her back. Han‟s question makes Caroline who is in front of Max, curious and tries to look at Max‟s back and when Max tries to avoid
Caroline, the catalog is snatched by Han which stand behind Max. When Caroline sees the catalog on the floor, she recognizes it easily and is angry because the
magazine is the thing that she has been avoiding from for several days. When Han knows actually what the catalog is and why Max tries to hide
it, he apologizes for his thinking that it is a hiding game. Max, feeling fails in PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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keeping Caroline‟s emotion, is mad with Han since he is the one who ruins it all and she cannot accept his apology at that time. Therefore, Max tends to use her
sarcastic utterance as the response for Han‟s apologizing.
In order to show her emotion level, Max as the speaker use the sarcasm as a purpose of sophistication. Rather than saying the rude words with literal meaning,
Max chooses to threaten Han by sayi ng “Oh, reach for me like that again and well
be playing a different game called “guess which part of Han I cut off” ”. Since
Han thinks that the previous situation is a kind of game, Max sarcastically gives a kind of warning about a kind of game which they will play if Han messes up
again. The speaker‟s level of emotion is seen through Max words which will cut off Han‟s body if something like that happens again.
Situation 27
Sophie : Now, can I have my catalog back?
Caroline : You brought this in here? raising her tone I can‟t believe it
Sophie. I cant believe you think its okay for you to just sit here
and casually flip through this catalog that contains everything I love from my old life. I just think its really insensitive and stuff. I
mean, what are you thinking? What is wrong with you, I mean, besides your obvious choice of bad fabric and color.
Sophie :Oh, no. stand up You back up your truck, bearded lady. Im
insensitive? Im the thief who stole all those peoples money? And you dont think this color is happening? Pick up a copy of Polish
Vogue.
The situation above happens as the continuance of the situation 26
mentioned previously. At first, Caroline just mad to see that her auction catalog is in the diner. Later, when Sophie asks for the catalog, Caroline cannot handle her
emotion and just throws up words to Sophie. Caroline does not expect that Sophie has the heart to bring the catalog which contains her memories in the diner.
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Caroline thinks that Sophie is one of a friend who will appreciate her by not insults her feeling with the auction catalog.
Sophie, as the hearer, cannot take critique from Caroline‟s statement
which says that she is insensitive and she has a bad choice in fabric and color. Thus, Sophie with her going mad says her sarcastic utterance to Caroline in order
to give critique back. By saying, “You back up your truck, bearded lady.” Sophie
sarcastically gives her critique to the two hairs which Caroline has in her face. Sophie‟s utterance as the speaker definitely insults Caroline as the hearer
and the sarcasm given is intentionally uttered by Sophie. However, instead of mentioning the hair with literal language, Sophie tends to use the figurative
language which shows her creativity in playing the language she uses. Therefore, Sophie‟s utterance counts as sarcasm in purpose of sophistication.
Situation 35
Caroline : turns the light on Han
: looking around I cannot believe my eyes Max
: I felt the same way when I first saw you.
The situation 35 happens before the situation 36 which has been analyze previously. There are Max, Caroline, Han and Oleg at the room behind the diner
which is no longer been used. The room had to be dirty, dark, smelly, and full of rats which have been redecorated by Max and Caroline to be a clean, light, and
chic cupcake shop as their new business. For the first move, Max and Caroline decides that night as the soft opening of their cupcake shop. Before that, they want
to show it to their co-workers at the diner and see their first impression looking at the inside part of their new shop.
36
Caroline insists to turn the light off before they enter the room so that it will give more dramatic impact. Later, when Caroline enters the room and turns
the light on, Han immediately looks around every corner of the room and express his excitement which can be seen through Han‟s utterance above. Caroline seems
happy with Han‟s excitement which can be considered as compliment for Caroline and Max‟s hard work in decorate the room.
Different from Caroline, Max prefers to reply Han‟s statement with her
sarcastic utterance. By saying , “I felt the same way when I first saw you.” Max
wants Han to know her feeling that she cannot believe her eyes too when she sees Han for the first time. The reason why she cannot believe her eyes are varies.
However, since Max is well known with her comm ent on Han‟s physical
appearance, she maybe cannot believe that her boss is a small Asian man and is not what boss she imagines.
Max‟s sarcastic utterance here considered as sophistication
since she means it as a humor not to offend someone‟s feeling.
Situation 38
Han : Oh, man, that hippie patchouli smell is worse than the poop was.
Caroline : Han, shh. closing windows These people are in mourning. Show some respect.
Han : Me? Me show some respect? What will you two do next, sell
cupcakes at the diabetes wing at the childrens hospital? Caroline : How dare you doubt my sincerity?
I personally have shooed a homeless man away from peeing on that shrine twice.
The situation above happens the day after Caroline and Max open the
cupcake shop. In the soft opening at the cupcake shop, someone died in front of their shop after eating Max‟s cupcake and later Caroline finds out that the one
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who died is a rock star. After the incidence, many people who are the fans of the rock star go to Ma
x‟s cupcake shop to hear the real story and to bring flowers, candles, dolls or poems to be placed in front of the shop where their star died.
Caroline and Max know that there will be more people come over their cupcakes shop because of the incidence. Thus, they take the advantage of it by
selling cupcakes when the fans mourn and gather near their shop. Caroline and Max do not really know about the rock star that died yesterday but they really
show their sympathy through their story and face emotion. When Caroline is talking to one of the fans, Han enters the shop and
smells the weird smell inside which come from the fragrant oil that the fans bring. Knowing that Han‟s statement will insult her customers, Caroline immediately
closes the shop‟s windows and asks him to show some the respect. Han knows that actually Caroline and Max do not really know the rock star died yesterday
and their respect is not really sincere from the heart since business is their priority. Therefore, Han feels insult when Caroline asks him to show some respect.
As the hearer, Han chooses to reply Caroline‟s request by sarcastically talks back about Caroline and Max‟s act which do not show respect either. By
asking, “What will you two do next, sell cupcakes at the diabetes wing at the childrens hospital?
” Han intentionally gives his comment on the way they sell the cupcakes when people are mourning. Han delivers his sarcastic utterance by
chooses the „diabetes wing at children‟s hospital‟ as the image for replacing the mourned fans in front of their shop which has the similar sadness. Therefore, the
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utterance said by Han is considered as sarcasm as sophistication since Han plays words and the utterance shows the speaker‟s level of emotion.
Situation 39
Han : I dont care what I may or may not have said on the 27th at 4:15
p.m. Your business is booming, and now I want rent. Caroline : No way, Han. That man couldve overdosed anywhere. But God
made him overdose in front of our window as a gift. And, yes, we are accepting that gift because you only live once. YOLO.
Han : This isnt yolo its hodo. He Only Died Once. Im
surprised you arent selling hodo t-shirts. Caroline : How dare you again?
Situation 39 above still related with the previous situation when Caroline and Han are arguing in the new cupcake shop. Han is not happy to see Caroline
and Max‟s cupcakes shop are full of people and they sell lots of cupcakes which mean that they earn so much money from that. That fact makes Han insist
Caroline and Max to pay the rent for the place that actually given by Han himself to them as their new place for opening a bakeshop.
Caroline with her business background knows that to get a place for rent – free is a good opportunity since they can do more saving for income that they
have rather than to pay for the rent. Besides, Han himself ever says to Caroline that he gives the back side of the diner for them since it is no longer used.
Caroline also thinks that the incidence happened yesterday is special gift from God since that makes her cupcake shop become famous and they earn so much
money. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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Han who cannot agree with Caroline‟s thought, attacks her by asking them not selling t-shirt like what they ever do previously. What makes the
sarcastic utterance used as sophistication is Han‟s making the abbreviation which sounds similar with YOLO. He makes HODO in his sarcastic utterance, stands for
„He Only Died Once‟ which means that the incidence only happens once so that Caroline cannot take it for granted that the cupcake shop will be as crowd as the
moment they talk. As the speaker, Han wants Caroline as the hearer to see that he is able in playing language in his utterance which sounds sarcastic. The
abbreviation said by Han is the indicator that sarcasm in this situation used as sophistication.
Situation 48
clanking cookware Caroline : Max, stop it Im trying to sleep.
Max : Well, sorry, but Im pissed and its 11:30 anyway. Whats going
on? Caroline : They screwed us. sigh
Max : I know. That is why Im making hate cupcakes for the
Kardashians, see? showing the cupcakes Eat It, Bite Me, Get, A, Job. Oh, and one for the mom that says, I still love
you. Just in case. Now come on, get up. Your son needs to go out and take an 8-foot crap.
pointing out at Caroline’s horse Caroline
: No, I‟m done. If everyones done with cupcakes, so am I. Im done pretending that everythings gonna work out. In our reality
show, its not.
Max : Look, get up, or I will close this bed with you in it, and your
new reality show will be True Life: I Live in a Wall.
Caroline : I‟m not getting up. Ever.
This situation happens after Max and Caroline hear the news that the Kardashians is not going to make their reality show in Max
‟s cupcake shop. The PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
40
conversation occurred at the morning when Caroline still sleeps in her build – up
bed and she is disturbed by the clanking noise comes from Max ‟s cookware. It is
11.30 a.m. and Caroline should have waken up and is okay to hear the noise. However, Caroline seems lack of sleep at night since she is still trying to sleep in
the morning and that is because she still thinks about the Kardashians not coming at their cupcake shop.
Feeling disappointed, Max bakes cupcakes with the hate expressions on it and she is planning to send them to the Kardashians family. Caroline is not a type
of person who prefers to attacks the people but rather stays in bed and feels the disappointment for herself. Max does not want Caroline feels that way alone, that
is why she insists to wake her up and take a walk with Chestnut but it does not persuade her.
Finally, Max tends to use her sarcastic utterance which says that she will fold the bed with Caroline in it so that it will be the new reality show named True
Life: I Live in a Wall which replaces the Kardashians’. With her sarcastic
utterance, Max actually means it as a humor to wake up Caroline since it does not contain
word which insults Caroline‟s feeling. Thus, the sarcastic utterance said by Max is considered as the use of sophistication.
Situation 54
Max : And your hairs not bad either.
Caroline : Yeah, now, after the emergency trip to that salon. When you got done with me, I looked like a baby bird on chemo.
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Max in the previous situation, cannot persuade Caroline to wake up from her sarcastic utterance, then she finally folds the bed up to the wall with Caroline
in it. Caroline feels scared with her position which almost hang in the wall finally asks Max to put her down and promises that she will wake up after that.
Unexpectedly, Caroline‟s hair is stuck at the bed gears below and she cannot lift her head up. Max tries to free Caroline‟s hair from the gears but none of her helps
is successful and Caroline still wants her hair long and does not want to cut the part of hair which get caught by the bed gears.
When Max comes back home from sending the mean cupcakes to Kardashians in Manhattan, she founds Oleg and Earl inside her place. Both Oleg
and Earl give up in helping Caroline because there is no more ways except to cut off the part of hair which stuck below her bed. Finally, Caroline asks Max to
scissor her hair after Sophie goes there and says that Kim Kardashian tweets for Max‟s cupcake and that will make their business packed. She realizes that she has
her business to run rather than stuck in her bed all day. The conversation in situation 54 happens in Max‟s cupcakes shop when
they have a little chit chat in the middle of their job to serve the customers. Max gives compliment to Caroline‟s new short hair which still looks good on her. As
the respond for the compliment, Caroline gives her sarcastic utterance by reminding Max how she looks before she goes to the salon which similar with
baby bird on chemo. This sarcastic utterance said by Caroline is a humor since it does not hurt Max‟s feeling and Caroline‟s choice of words is rather funny than
rude or harsh. She just wants Max to imagine how bad she looks before she goes PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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to the salon to get her hair done. Caroline here uses sarcastic utterance as the purpose of sophistication.
Situation 64
Sophie : Im out of sugar, and can one of you read my morning pee stick? I
cant read this little window thing and I lost my cheaters and Olegs not upstairs.
Max : So you lost both your cheaters.
For several days, Sophie is excited about her being pregnant since her period is really late and she feels so sure about that. Even though Max, Caroline
and her husband, Oleg asks Sophie to not be so sure, she still believes that she will have her baby soon.
In the situation above, Sophie as Caroline and Max‟s neighbor comes to Max‟s place and asks for help to read the stick which shows
whether she is pregnant or not. At that morning, Sophie is asking for Caroline and Max‟s help to read the
result from her stick since she cannot read without her glasses and she lost it, also Oleg is not with her. Caroline, who does not have anything to do, chooses to help
Sophie with her stick. Different with Max who often teases people around her, chooses to give her comment for Sophie‟s statement. By saying “So you lost both
your cheaters” means that the cheaters that Sophie lost that morning are her glasses and her husband, Oleg. As the speaker, Max intentionally says that as
means of humo r to tease Sophie since she uses the word „cheaters‟ for „glasses‟
while it can be means as a person who cheats which can refers to his husband. The words played here by Max shows that sarcasm can be us as sophistication and
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sarcasm can be used as a type of humor with nothing about the statement being serious or truthful.