I discovered sarcasm at an early age. I vividly recall discussing the definition of the word with a fellow second grader, and we determined that sarcasm was “saying something nice in a mean way.” We were pretty on the money, but Merriam-Webster describes it as follows:
Sarcasm refers to the use of words that mean the opposite of what you really want to say, especially in order to insult someone, or to show irritation, or just to be funny.
Not everybody gets sarcasm. When you have a Saharan desert-level dry, deadpan delivery, it might not resound, especially with strangers. Women are often taken at face value, even when they are obviously kidding. One Twitter user shared her experience of being accused of being a pathological liar by a coworker after joking that she walked from New Jersey to California. Even if he didn’t get the joke initially, that is an insane conclusion to jump to.
