Footnotes

Very important to remember: sarcasm does not translate.

There is no sarcasm in China - at least, it seems it's not native to this land, and was apparently imported from less respectful cultures. English speaking ones, most likely. My boss informed me of this early in my time in China, and while its universality is therefore debatable, it has held true in my experience.

I get an awful lot of entertaining looks accompanied by "no it isn't!" when I say things like "wow that sounds like fun" in my best dripping with sarcasm voice.

But even foreigners who move here seem to eventually forget that they've ever understood this brand of communication*. I rather enjoy it, so I'd prefer not to allow my sarcasm muscle to atrophy completely... in the mean time I suppose I must abide strange looks and lots of people who think I'm completely unfunny.


*I was tempted to use the phrase "tonal lexicon" though I'm not sure this combination of words would actually make sense.