the.com/satirist

Someone who tells the truth badly disguised as a joke, so it slides past the ego.

means A writer or performer who mocks vice, folly, or power by exaggerating it, usually to expose it rather than just to amuse.

from Traces back to Latin 'satira' (originally 'satura'), meaning a medley or 'full dish' — as in 'lanx satura,' a platter heaped with mixed fruits offered to the gods. The word first described a mixed-genre poem stuffed with miscellaneous observations and jabs, and only later narrowed to mean the mocking, moralizing style we call satire. The folk link to Greek 'satyr' (the goat-footed woodland creature) is a popular but false trail — the two words aren't related, despite satire's often wild, mischievous spirit matching the satyr's reputation.

core trick
exaggerate reality until it confesses
risk
often hated by the powerful it mocks
misconception
being funny; actually being accurate
patron saint
Jonathan Swift, who suggested eating babies
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