[General] Difference between 'Satirical' and 'Sarcastic'

[The Learner]

Hi all,
Can you please help me understanding the difference between 'Satirical' and 'Sarcastic'?
Please guide me on how it makes a difference when it comes to usage of these words.

[Anglika]

See here:

Satire - Glossary Definition - UsingEnglish.com

Sarcasm - Glossary Definition - UsingEnglish.com

[BobK]

Etymological trivium du jour: the sarc- of "sarcastic" is the same as the sarc- of "sarcophagus" - Online Etymology Dictionary . Dead-pan humour

b

[BobK]

PS - Also sarcoma of course.

b

[VSPrasad]

Satire is a mode of writing that exposes the failings of individuals, institutions, or societies to ridicule and scorn. Satire is often an incidental element in literary works that may not be wholly satirical, especially in comedy. Its tone may vary from tolerant amusement, as in the verse satires of the Roman poet Horace, to bitter indignation, as in the verse of Juvenal and the prose of Jonathan Swift. Various forms of literature may be satirical, from the plays of Ben Jonson or of Molière and the poetry of Chaucer or Byron to the prose writings of Rabelais and Voltaire. The models of Roman satire, especially the verse satires of Horace and Juvenal, inspired some important imitations by Boileau, Pope, and Johnson in the greatest period of satire—the 17th and 18th centuries—when writers could appeal to a shared sense of normal conduct from which vice and folly were seen to stray. In this classical tradition, an important form is ‘formal’ or ‘direct’ satire, in which the writer directly addresses the reader (or recipient of a verse letter) with satiric comment.

Sarcasm form of irony in which apparent praise conceals another, scornful meaning. Sarcasm is not, however, always blatantly expressed and can be (and commonly is) conveyed in an exaggerated intonation of one's voice when speaking, as to over-accentuate and draw attention to what is being mocked or made humorous. For example, if one person in a couple is served an enormous plate of food at a restaurant, his/her companion might remark to the other, "Well, that should feed the seven of us!" The person's remark is mocking the large portion of food by being both facetious and ironic, since the plate is obviously intended to feed one person, not seven (though it may in fact be big enough for more than one), and the couple would understand that the remark being made, for that same reason, expresses an untruth of what the situation is- two people have a meal, not seven.

[Raymott]

Originally Posted by VSPrasad

Satire is a mode of writing that exposes the failings of individuals, institutions, or societies to ridicule and scorn.

Hi, do you have the source for this?

[VSPrasad]

Use answers.com for the word satire.

Use sarcasmsociety.com for the word sarcasm.