Word of the week: Sarcasmist

August 2, 2016 at 5:42PM

Definition: A person specializing in or noted for sarcasm — which I'm totally sure you knew already.

Sample usage: "He's such a sarcasmist that I always believe the opposite of what he says, including his name."

Popularity: It replaces a familiar word ("sarcastic") with a word that looks different and no one knows — and, sure, that's a really great idea. On the page, it looks like sarca-smist — which is totally how you should pronounce it, yeah, right — and in conversation, the phrase "he's such a sarcasmist" is supposed to make people think "he's so sarcastic." Best new word ever! I'm sure it's going to be used by everyone.

JAMES LILEKS

Heard a new word or phrase you want us to dissect? Let us know at word@startribune.com. Check out previous entries at startribune.com/word.

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