when, in fact, the sun is shining brightly. In this case, victimless irony is difficult (if not impossible) to interpret. The standard theory is silent on this issue. Reminder theory, however, predicts this outcome: Unless a listener can infer some plausible antecedent, such as a meteorologist's mistakenly predicting terrible weather, then the statement cannot be sensibly interpreted. Reminder theory, then, requires an explicit antecedent for negative remarks about positive events. An explicit victim of such negative remarks can provide such an antecedent. The logic of our three studies rests on this argument. For standard theory, victimless irony is acceptable and comprehensible, irrespective of the polarity of a sarcastically intended remark. For reminder theory, victimless irony is acceptable and comprehensible only for positive sarcastic remarks. Victimless irony should not be acceptable for negative remarks: These should require an explicit antecedent, such as some relevant behavior of a victim