For joking and sarcasm

The current study found that CS to the SD was used for mocking, joking, sarcasm, and

underhand or underlying criticism of a person, idea, or a social issue. The data showed that the SD or the L variety was utilized for humor, as it is not usually appropriate to use SA for joking. A switch to the L variety in some cases, as in Tweets (4.21) – (4.24), is a way of criticizing or refuting political, or social issues without facing the potential consequences. Thus, utilizing the L variety reduces the formality and seriousness of the criticism, and the user would therefore avoid the possible consequences of his/her stance either against or for a specific idea or an issue. Jokes and humor play important roles, as the data showed with regard to supporting or refuting a point, as well as in terms of indirect criticism of a point or when taking a stance. Tweets (4.21) – (4.24) show how CS to the SD conveys humor that combines sarcasm and underhand criticism.

97 Tweet 4.21

“And because of the difficulty of getting a house in Saudi Arabia, we opened "cake house, house of donuts, juices house, house of shrimp, kabob house" until relief comes.”

In this tweet, the user sarcastically describes a crucial issue in Saudi Arabia: home ownership, which is not easy to achieve. It is such a serious issue that in 2010 the previous King Abdullah established a new, independent Ministry of Housing because he realized the importance of resolving the housing problem. Thus, the user utilizes SA to draw the audience’s attention to a problem that concerns all Saudi citizens. Then, she shifts to the SD to deliver underhanded criticism and sarcastically express her frustration, declaring that we will “open cake house, house of donuts, juices house, house of shrimp, kabob house"—the names of restaurants—and wait until the housing problem is completely solved.

Tweet 4.22

“Between us and Japan is an ideology!! So, it is easy, and we complicate it.”

This Twitter user mocks a tweet by another user who is among the top leftist thinkers in Saudi Arabia. The leftist thinker claims in his tweet that Saudi Arabia has the ability to be the Japan of

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the Middle East and does not lack anything to be a great country such as Japan. The only obstacle, according to the thinker, preventing Saudi Arabia from succeeding and becoming a first-world country is its “Islamic ideology.” He encourages Saudi Arabia to abandon it and argues that Islamic ideology is a symbol of backwardness. The user who wrote the present tweet mocks the thinker and shows he is amazed by the simplicity and naivety of the claim. Moreover, this Twitter user attacks the thinker and his party, singling them out for criticism and show how naive the thinker is. The Twitter user switches to the SD for the purpose of mockery and

sarcasm.

Tweet 4.23

“Both of them [left and right parties] are practicing exclusion against their opponents, so we wait until the new update comes.”

In Tweet 4.23, the Twitter user describes two parties in Saudi Arabia: those who are called liberals by themselves and fundamentalists, on one hand, and those described as fundamentalists by the liberals, on the other hand. He states that they both exclude anyone who does not belong to their group or agree with them. This tweet is among several replying to another user, who argues that Saudi society needs an authentic liberal group that truly believes in liberty, justice, and freedom of speech. Unfortunately, those who claim to be liberals really are exclusionists like the fundamentalists, and neither group represents real Saudi society. He, therefore, criticizes both groups, especially for excluding others who do not belong to their party. He thus switches to the

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SD to criticize these groups’ exclusion and mock them by saying even if a new update10 _arrive,

the result will be the same, or in other words, no significant changes will occur. He expresses his frustration by stating that nothing could be done but to wait.

Tweet 4.24

“# ﺧﺮ #news ﺒ

A medical examination predicts death 7 years in advance #ﻖ #comment ﻠﯿﻌﺗ

Ridiculous..! one, [they] expected him to live for seven years!! He went out joyously and a limousine runs over him and cuts him into seven pieces.”

The Twitter user in this tweet commented on a news item regarding the prediction of person’s death up to seven years in advance. The user was a Muslim and, in the Islamic faith, knowing or determining of the time of death for a specific person is among the things that are unseen, unwitnessed, and unknown except by God ‘Allah’ Himself: “[He is] Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, the Grand, the Exalted” (Qur’an 13, 9). Thus, Muslims and believers must have faith in predestination, which is one of the six pillars of faith in Islam; as the Holy Qur’an directs believers, “Say, ‘Never will we be struck except by what Allah has decreed for us; He is our protector.” And upon Allah let the believers rely” (Qur’an 9, 51). In another section, it states:

10 _{A new update here means a new party, or a new group, or any changes that might occur to the}

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“Say, ‘Indeed, the death from which you flee - indeed, it will meet you. Then you will be

returned to the Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, and He will inform you about what you used to do’” (Qur’an 62, 8). The user utilized the SD humorously to give an example of an unreal or hypothetical example of someone who had been told that he would live for seven additional years and, when exiting from the clinic, happy in the knowledge that he would live for seven additional years, was suddenly run over by a limousine and was cut into seven pieces. Therefore, how can such studies be trusted or believed in such cases? Thus, as the user perceived such a news item as an object of ridicule, he shifted to the SD or the L variety for the purpose of joking and humor.

4.3.3 To quote

The data showed that quoting was common in both directions of CS, from SA to the SD and vice versa, regardless of whether it was direct or indirect. The current study does not differentiate between direct and indirect quotes because both of them were found to be used in both

directions, as shown above in Tweets (4.8, 4.9, and 4.10), and as will be shown in Tweets: (4.25, 4.26, and 4.27). The data also revealed that there were two types of quotes: authentic quotes, which were really said or written by someone, and hypothetical quotes in which the Twitter user made up a quote to indicate what the imaginary conversation partner would have said regarding the topic or issue under discussion, as Tweet (4.29) shows. This motivation ‘quotation’ for CS occurs in both direction of CS, from SA to the SD and vice versa, as Tweet 4.25 - Tweet 4.27 demonstrate.

101 Tweet 4.25

“I was in the emergency room in a hospital, and this scene attracted me: The girl with fear [says], “Mama, I do not want a needle [vaccination]!” Her mother asks her to repeat the sentence in order to take a video for her and share it on Snapchat!”

In this tweet, the user shares an authentic quotation from a scene she witnessed during a visit to an emergency room at a Saudi hospital: a young girl tells her mother that she is scared and does not want to get a vaccine. The mother asks her daughter to repeat what she said to make a video to publish on Snapchat. The user criticizes mothers for sharing videos of their children on

Snapchat and other social media platforms. The user uses SA to discuss a crucial social issue: the publishing of videos of children on social media platforms, which might cause harm to them and might be considered to be child exploitation under Saudi laws. The user employs the SD in the quotation.

102 Tweet 4.26

“Wrong behavior: To be ill with chronic hypertension, and he [the patient] takes a chronic treatment, and he [the patient] does not watch his blood pressure! He [the patient] says that the last time I measured my blood pressure was last Eid al-Adha [the Feast of the Sacrifice].”

This Twitter user, who is a medical doctor, admonishes patients who have hypertension but are careless about their blood pressure and do not monitor it. He raises a significant socio-medical issue because some people in Saudi Arabia pay no attention medical doctors’ directions and instructions. The Twitter user employs SA to describe the case and signify its importance and then shifts to the SD to give a hypothetical quotation of what patients frequently say when asked about the last time their blood pressure was measured.

Tweet 4.27

“An ancient Greek legend says:

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The Twitter user in this tweet reported indirect quote. Unlike Tweet 4.25, in which the Twitter user reported an authentic direct quote and Tweet 4.26 in which the Twitter user reported a hypothetical quote, the Twitter user in this tweet reported an indirect quote, namely a Greek legend explaining the reason for the dimples that appear on some children’s cheeks. The legend attributes the appearance of dimples on children’s cheeks to angels who kiss children when they are newly born. Thus, the user shifted to the SD to signal an indirect quote; furthermore, such a CS could be included under the motivation to simplify and explain, for which the SD or the L variety is usually utilized.