A quote from the MW Dictionary of Synonyms (without examples here):
"Severe is applicable to persons and their looks, acts, thoughts, and utterances or to things (as laws, penalties, judgments, and styles) for which persons are responsible. In all these applications it implies rigorous standards of what is just, right, ethical, beautiful, or acceptable and unsparing or exacting adherence to them; it not only excludes every hint of laxity or indulgence but often suggests a preference for what is hard, plain, or meager (a severe teacher). Very often the word suggests harshness or even cruelty (severe criticism)."
"Harsh suggests a nature that is unfeeling, cruel, and indifferent to the pain it inflicts (a harsh critic) or when applied to things, effectiveness in promoting discomforts or in imposing rigors (a harsh rebuke)."
Compare the following examples (taken from different sources):
The country has come under severe criticism for its human rights record. [strong, neither bad not good]
Many people feel the punishment should have been more severe.
It may seem harsh to punish him, but he has to learn that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable.
He later regretted his harsh words. [negative]
He accused her of being unduly harsh. [negative]
Nothing can justify such harsh treatment of prisoners. [negative]
They are more or less interchangeable. Accounting has different meanings and in one sense refers to the process of keeping or maintaining financial records; while accountancy, according to OED, specifically refers to the duties(which consists of accounting, bookkeeping, auditing, etc.) or profession of an accountant.
When it comes to which is the child and which is the parent, accountancy seems to be the parent term in finance. Here is the definition from Wikipedia:
Accountancy is the process of communicating financial information about a business entity to users such as shareholders and managers.1 The communication is generally in the form of financial statements that show in money terms the economic resources under the control of management; the art lies in selecting the information that is relevant to the user and is reliable.[2] The principles of accountancy are applied to business entities in three divisions of practical art, named accounting, bookkeeping, and auditing.[3]
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) defines accountancy as "the art of recording, classifying, and summarizing in a significant manner and in terms of money, transactions and events which are, in part at least, of financial character, and interpreting the results thereof."[4]
That said, when referring to the field itself, I'll never use accountancy and will stick with accounting.
Best Answer
@Manoochehr doesn't quite catch the meaning of sardonic. It means "grimly mocking or cynical." My Webster's gives its origin as
It really doesn't carry the connotation of superiority or low opinion all by itself, although such feelings may accompany it.
Sardonic is in fact distinct from sarcastic but not by much, and many people use the two as if they are interchangeable, which, strictly speaking, they are not. Sardonic is more extreme and negative, and one can be sarcastic without being sardonic, and vice-versa.