To be sardonic is to be disdainfully or

cynical Cynicism is an attitude characterized by a general distrust of the motives of "others". A cynic may have a general lack of faith or hope in people motivated by ambition, desire, greed, gratification, materialism, goals, and opinions that a cynic ...

ly humorous, or scornfully

mocking Mockery or mocking is the act of insulting or making light of a person or other thing, sometimes merely by taunting, but often by making a caricature, purporting to engage in imitation in a way that highlights unflattering characteristics. Mocke ...

. A form of wit or humour, being sardonic often involves expressing an uncomfortable truth in a clever and not necessarily malicious way, often with a degree of skepticism.

Origin

Both the concept and the etymology of the word, while being of uncertain origin, appear to stem from the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

island of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

. The 10th-century

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Ottoman co ...

encyclopedia ''

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas ...

'' traces the word's earliest roots to the notion of grinning ( grc, σαίρω, sairō) in the face of danger, or curling one's lips back at evil. One explanation for the later alteration to its more familiar form and connection to laughter (supported by the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...

'') appears to stem from an ancient belief that ingesting the ''sardonion'' (σαρδόνιον) plant from

(Σαρδώ) would result in convulsions resembling laughter and, ultimately, death. In ''Theory and History of Folklore'',

Vladimir Propp Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp (russian: Владимир Яковлевич Пропп; – 22 August 1970) was a Soviet folklorist and scholar who analysed the basic structural elements of Russian folk tales to identify their simplest irredu ...

discusses alleged examples of ritual laughter accompanying death and killing, all involving groups. These he characterized as sardonic laughter:

Among the very ancient people of Sardinia, who were called ''Sardi'' or ''Sardoni'', it was customary to kill old people. While killing their old people, the Sardi laughed loudly. This is the origin of notorious sardonic laughter (Eugen Fehrle, 1930). In light of our findings things begin to look different. Laughter accompanies the passage from death to life; it creates life and accompanies birth. Consequently, laughter accompanying killing transforms death into a new birth, nullifies murder as such, and is an act of piety that transforms death into a new life.

A root form may first appear in

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

's ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...

'' as the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''sardánios'', altered by influence of the word ''Sardonios'' (Σαρδονιος, " Sardinian"), originated from a Greek phrase which meant "to be sneered", "tearing of flesh" or for scornful laughter. From the evolved the la, sardonius, thence the french: sardonique, and ultimately the familiar English adjectival form, ''sardonic''. In the English vernacular, it was recorded and utilized in Edmund Spenser's "The Shepheard’s Calendar" (1579).

''Risus sardonicus''

Risus sardonicus ''Risus sardonicus'' or rictus grin is a highly characteristic, abnormal, sustained spasm of the facial muscles that appears to produce grinning. It may be caused by tetanus, strychnine poisoning, or Wilson's disease, and has been reported after j ...

'' is an apparent smile on the face of those who are convulsing because of

tetanus Tetanus, also known as lockjaw, is a bacterial infection caused by ''Clostridium tetani'', and is characterized by muscle spasms. In the most common type, the spasms begin in the jaw and then progress to the rest of the body. Each spasm usually ...

strychnine Strychnine (, , US chiefly ) is a highly toxic, colorless, bitter, crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine, when inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the eye ...

poisoning. From the ''

'', "A fixed, grin-like expression resulting from spasm of facial muscles, esp. in tetanus." Also:

onvulsion of thefacial muscles may cause a characteristic expression called ''Risus sardonicus'' (from the Latin for scornful laughter) or ''Risus caninus'' (from the Latin for doglike laughter or grinning). This facial expression has also been observed among patients with tetanus. ''Risus sardonicus'' causes a patient's eyebrows to rise, eyes to bulge, and mouth to retract dramatically, resulting in what has been described as an evil-looking grin.

Hemlock water dropwort

In 2009 scientists at the

University of Eastern Piedmont The University of Eastern Piedmont "Amedeo Avogadro" ( it, Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale "Amedeo Avogadro"; shortened to UNIPMN or UPO) is a university located in Alessandria, Novara and Vercelli, in the region of Piedmont, Ital ...

claimed to have identified hemlock water dropwort as the plant responsible for producing the sardonic grin. This plant is the candidate for the "sardonic herb", which was a

neurotoxic Neurotoxicity is a form of toxicity in which a biological, chemical, or physical agent produces an adverse effect on the structure or function of the central and/or peripheral nervous system. It occurs when exposure to a substance – specificall ...

plant used for the ritual killing of elderly people in pre-Roman Sardinia. When these people were unable to support themselves, they were intoxicated with this herb and then dropped from a high rock or beaten to death.News Scan Briefs: Killer Smile
Scientific American, August 2009

References

Definition, meaning, and social examples of the word Sardoni
Sardonic meaning and usage example

External links

* {{cite web , url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=sardonic, title=Entry: Online Etymology Dictionary , access-date=2008-10-30 Greek words and phrases Humour Rhetoric

Origin

''Risus sardonicus''

Hemlock water dropwort

See also

References

External links