We have had some good threads on irony and sarcasm, but what about satire? Dictionary.com defines all three as synonyms, yet we know them to be different.

Just today I read the following about American satire: "Turning the volume up under common circumstances to about, oh, say, 14, to savor the distortion that follows." This editor said you used to have to read James Thurber, Ambrose Bierce, or maybe even Mark Twain for satire. Now, however, we just watch "The Simpsons."

Is there a difference between American and British satire?

Here is a Web site on American satire:.

The article that I read about American satire ridiculed a university in Texas that had a course on "The Simpsons" as a way of teaching American satire. A university representative responded with a letter to the paper, explaining how the students "take apart" the Simpsons lives, thus learning about American satire so that they can write better.

Balderdash!