Think your ironic sense of humor makes you unique and sophisticated? Well, get over it, because guess what? According to a new study published in the perennially droll British Journal of Developmental Psychology, tots as young as four can understand irony. Until now, psychologists had believed that kids didn’t develop an appreciation for Vice magazine’s preferred style of communication until they reached the ages of eight to ten. While previous studies only measured children’s reactions to sarcasm, this new research, according to Stephanie Alexander of the University of Montreal, included “four types of non-literal language: hyperbole, euphemism, sarcasm and rhetorical questions.”
Scientific advance or definitive proof that hipsters are breeding? You decide. [via io9]