I think you’re probably right, though of course there is always the factor of ineluctable language change.
Personally, I grew up hating (real, hard core) sarcasm so much, that (1) I understand why people who are committing it will sometimes disguise it as “irony” ; and (2) I am left bewildered at people who will include “sarcastic” in their meant-to-be-positive descriptions or profiles, as though it meant “witty” or “lively, engaged conversationalist.”
Sounds like sarcasm to me. She’s suggesting a course of action that’s plainly fantastical and doing so with a straight face.
Yeah, I’ll vote sarcasm. Like, “So, you want us to make the sun rise in the west, then? We’ll get right on that.”
Seems more facetious to me.
I agree. I know there’s a fine line between facetiousness and sarcasm, but I think she stayed on the side of facetious.
axiom: this is a comic (anything can happen)
hypothesis: he is being investigated, or at least thinks he is, for improper business practices, so the offices may be bugged
conclusion: he sees this as a perfectly legitimate suggestion, and indeed feels it is the course to be pursued, but because of the paranoia (is it paranoia if they’re really out to get you?) of bugs, he has added that comment to give him plausible deniability. (Honest, you honor, I never thought they’d go through with it; as the record clearly shows, I thought they were being sarcastic!)
I think if the bald guy has a history of making unreasonable demands, it could be sarcasm.
But Powers, isn’t she describing what Barney really wants done?
If by “reality” they mean the writer of the comic, I’m sure he’d be amiable to some extra cash.
Also, I’d vote for cheeky, but not sarcastic.
“But Powers, isn’t she describing what Barney really wants done?”
No, because it literally doesn’t make any sense. “Reality” isn’t something that can be bribed. What he wants is for the assistant to figure out WHO needs to be bribed, and how much it will cost, and if any other options exist that might be cheaper or easier or more reliable.
Andrea: I always thought facetiousness and sarcasm weren’t on the same axis… so a comment could be facetious, sarcastic, both, or neither. In this case, I vote “both.”
What the first guy said was “circumstances”. So they changed once, they might be able to change again. I think it’s at least reasonable to find out how they changed and why, then see what it would take to change them back.
James, for all practical purposes, “reality” can definiely be changed: laws are reality, regulations are reality, test results are reality, statistics are reality. Whatever “circumstances” Mr. Toad is referring to will very likely fall in the wake of a full financial assault.
Or at least that’s Barney’s strategy.
Rather than sarcasm, I think it’s just Ms. Fix’s function to cut through the B.S.
*Fox
“James, for all practical purposes, “reality” can definiely be changed”
Reality can absolutely change. It is, in fact, always changing. But it can’t be bribed.
O.K., reality can’t be bribed, but its agents can be. If I wanted to throw money to effect a change in something in the legal system of North Comicstripistan, it’s true that I couldn’t actually bribe the “law” itself, or even the country’s “law code,” but I could try bribing its politicians to change said law and/or its judges to re-interpret it.
I might not describe that as “paying off reality,” but if I did want to do so, in these circumstances I suspect my co-conspirators would know what I meant and think “eh, close enough for comic strip (or Comicstripistan) work.”
According to Webster’s Second, there is a bitter or caustic quality to sarcasm. Sarcasm and irony often go together. Irony involves contrary-to-fact (“[certain pharmaceutical extortionist] is SUCH a good man”) or contrary-to-possibility (“We’ll make the sun rise in the west for you” as noted above.) Sarcasm adds bitterness: “Why not borrow the money from [certain pharmaceutical extortionist]? He’s got plenty from killing little kids.” If she has found out that he gets his way by bribing whoever it is necessary to bribe, then she is probably bitter about that, and this is sarcasm.
“O.K., reality can’t be bribed, but its agents can be.”
Or, as I put it before, there IS somebody who CAN be bribed, and the trick is to figure out who it is, and what they want, and whether there’s any alternative if the price is too high or the approach botched.
Comics I Don't Understand 
I think you’re probably right, though of course there is always the factor of ineluctable language change.
Personally, I grew up hating (real, hard core) sarcasm so much, that (1) I understand why people who are committing it will sometimes disguise it as “irony” ; and (2) I am left bewildered at people who will include “sarcastic” in their meant-to-be-positive descriptions or profiles, as though it meant “witty” or “lively, engaged conversationalist.”
Sounds like sarcasm to me. She’s suggesting a course of action that’s plainly fantastical and doing so with a straight face.
Yeah, I’ll vote sarcasm. Like, “So, you want us to make the sun rise in the west, then? We’ll get right on that.”
Seems more facetious to me.
I agree. I know there’s a fine line between facetiousness and sarcasm, but I think she stayed on the side of facetious.
axiom: this is a comic (anything can happen)
hypothesis: he is being investigated, or at least thinks he is, for improper business practices, so the offices may be bugged
conclusion: he sees this as a perfectly legitimate suggestion, and indeed feels it is the course to be pursued, but because of the paranoia (is it paranoia if they’re really out to get you?) of bugs, he has added that comment to give him plausible deniability. (Honest, you honor, I never thought they’d go through with it; as the record clearly shows, I thought they were being sarcastic!)
I think if the bald guy has a history of making unreasonable demands, it could be sarcasm.
But Powers, isn’t she describing what Barney really wants done?
If by “reality” they mean the writer of the comic, I’m sure he’d be amiable to some extra cash.
Also, I’d vote for cheeky, but not sarcastic.
“But Powers, isn’t she describing what Barney really wants done?”
No, because it literally doesn’t make any sense. “Reality” isn’t something that can be bribed. What he wants is for the assistant to figure out WHO needs to be bribed, and how much it will cost, and if any other options exist that might be cheaper or easier or more reliable.
Andrea: I always thought facetiousness and sarcasm weren’t on the same axis… so a comment could be facetious, sarcastic, both, or neither. In this case, I vote “both.”
What the first guy said was “circumstances”. So they changed once, they might be able to change again. I think it’s at least reasonable to find out how they changed and why, then see what it would take to change them back.
James, for all practical purposes, “reality” can definiely be changed: laws are reality, regulations are reality, test results are reality, statistics are reality. Whatever “circumstances” Mr. Toad is referring to will very likely fall in the wake of a full financial assault.
Or at least that’s Barney’s strategy.
Rather than sarcasm, I think it’s just Ms. Fix’s function to cut through the B.S.
*Fox
“James, for all practical purposes, “reality” can definiely be changed”
Reality can absolutely change. It is, in fact, always changing. But it can’t be bribed.
O.K., reality can’t be bribed, but its agents can be. If I wanted to throw money to effect a change in something in the legal system of North Comicstripistan, it’s true that I couldn’t actually bribe the “law” itself, or even the country’s “law code,” but I could try bribing its politicians to change said law and/or its judges to re-interpret it.
I might not describe that as “paying off reality,” but if I did want to do so, in these circumstances I suspect my co-conspirators would know what I meant and think “eh, close enough for comic strip (or Comicstripistan) work.”
According to Webster’s Second, there is a bitter or caustic quality to sarcasm. Sarcasm and irony often go together. Irony involves contrary-to-fact (“[certain pharmaceutical extortionist] is SUCH a good man”) or contrary-to-possibility (“We’ll make the sun rise in the west for you” as noted above.) Sarcasm adds bitterness: “Why not borrow the money from [certain pharmaceutical extortionist]? He’s got plenty from killing little kids.” If she has found out that he gets his way by bribing whoever it is necessary to bribe, then she is probably bitter about that, and this is sarcasm.
“O.K., reality can’t be bribed, but its agents can be.”
Or, as I put it before, there IS somebody who CAN be bribed, and the trick is to figure out who it is, and what they want, and whether there’s any alternative if the price is too high or the approach botched.