Same words, opposite meaning
Sarcasm is irony with a sting: the praise is aimed at someone. Often it isn't in the wording at all. Bravo, génial and super are positive words, and only the voice turns them around.
The French accent sits at the end of the breath group, so the sarcastic stretch moves there too: you lengthen the last syllable, not the first. English usually stretches the stressed syllable instead (Oh, wooonderful). Carry that over and you sound more enthusiastic than mocking in French.
Sincere and sarcastic
Bravo !
[bbra·vo ↗↘ – high, wide leap, short ending]
Bravo! (sincere praise)
Genuine enthusiasm, often with emphasis at the start of the word.
Ah… bravooo, très malin.
[aːː … bra·voːː → flat, low, stretched]
Oh, well done, very clever.
Mockery after someone has messed up.
The signals in a sentence
Usually two or three signals come together. When listening, ask three questions: does the voice leap? How long is the last syllable? Is there a drawn-out lead-in before the praise?
Listen and repeat
Oh… géniaaal.
[oː … ʒe·njaːːl → flat]
Oh, fantastic.
The washing machine has just flooded the floor.
Super. Vraiment super.
[sy·pɛʁ → sy·pɛːʁ → no leap either time]
Great. Really great.
The repetition sharpens the mockery.
Ah ben c'est malin.
[abɛ̃ · se·ma·lɛ̃ː ↘ low]
Well, that was clever.
Ah ben is the typical spoken lead-in.
Il est encore en retard. Quelle surprise.
[kɛl·syʁ·pʁiːz → completely level]
He's late again. What a surprise.
Feigned surprise, the voice stays flat.
Fixed sarcastic replies
A few short replies are almost always meant sarcastically in everyday speech. They live entirely on the contour: start low, stay level, stretch slightly at the end.
Short and sharp
C'est ça, oui.
[se·sa · wiː → low and level]
Yeah, right.
You don't believe a word.
Mais bien sûr…
[mɛ·bjɛ̃·syːʁ → stretched, no rise]
Oh, of course …
Sans blague ?
[sɑ̃·blaːg → flat instead of rising]
You don't say.
Rising, it is genuine surprise; flat, it mocks a statement of the obvious.
Pince-sans-rire
The next step up is pince-sans-rire, the French word for deadpan: sarcasm with no audible signal at all. The voice sounds like a factual statement, no lead-in, no stretching. Only the clash with the situation reveals the intent. If you wait for a signal, you take these sentences literally.
Delivered dry
J'adore les réunions de trois heures.
[neutral statement contour, heures short ↘]
I love three-hour meetings.
Said after an endless meeting.
Oui, c'est un plan sans faille.
[matter-of-fact, faille not stretched]
Yes, a flawless plan.
The plan is obviously full of holes.
When the voice is missing
In writing, all three signals disappear. In text messages, ellipses and stretched spellings stand in for the voice (Génial…, Bravooo). In work emails, though, a sarcastic sentence is usually read literally or taken as an attack.
