Learn English – it called when we ‘indirectly’ tell something to someone

phrase-requestword-request

Is it sarcasm? Witty? Clever? I'm not sure.

At times, I see the message being conveyed indirectly. It's difficult to label it as 'insulting' and that's why, I'm not sure what we call that.

Examples:

If a premises has CCTV installed, a board reads:

Witty/sarcastic way –

"Smile, you are on camera."

What they actually mean –

This place is under video surveillance, don't do anything bad.

In an open eatery…

"If you are reading this, it means you are literate. Throw waste plates in a dustbin."

What they actually mean –

Don't litter. Mannered people don't do that!

These are just examples. I want to learn what this method is called? What type of conversation that is? Sarcastic, insulting, humorous, witty, disdainful?

I'm not looking strictly for a 'word'. Anything else (i.e. phrase or idiom) will do.

Best Answer

It's good-natured humor. The signs are designed to be amusing.

Smart business owners do not purposefully insult their customer base, so we can cross insulting and disdainful off your list:

Sarcastic, insulting, humorous, witty, disdainful?

Oftentimes, the signs allude to certain cultural references, which is why the full extent of the humor might be lost on the learner. For example, there is a famous bumper sticker that says:

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This has been around for decades, and it was designed to be a witty way of discouraging people from tailgating you on the road (i.e., from following you too closely). After a while, though, these bumper stickers became more commonplace. As is the case with many witticisms, the joke got stale as it became more ubiquitous. So, variations started to appear:

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So, in the case of the sign at the restaurant:

If you are reading this, it means you are literate. Throw waste plates in a dustbin.

the first part of that is just another spinoff of the dozens of bumper stickers that begin with IF YOU CAN READ THIS.

As for the surveillance sign, in the early days of television, there was a television show called Candid Camera, where people would play stunts on unsuspecting victims. When it was time to let the person know they were part of a gag, they would be told the show's famous tagline, "Smile! You're on Candid Camera." Many people in the U.S. are familiar with the tagline, even if they've rarely or never watched the show. So the surveillance sign is playing off that television show and its famous line when the truth is revealed.

If someone is not familiar with these cultural references, then the humor of the variants could easily be lost.

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