The word sarcasm originated from the word sarkazein, meaning to tear flesh. Today that would be seen as a complete exaggeration as sarcasm is used in everyday small talk. We all use sarcasm for various reasons, yet we use it the most when talking with our closest friends. Of course we don’t intentionally “tear the flesh” of our friends- it’s all in good humor.
Mastering sarcasm is so satisfying; yet speaking in a language that is foreign to many other people can come with a range of struggles. Life is too short to be taken seriously, and as sarcasm-lovers, we take that statement to heart. Here are some struggles that you will definitely relate to if you’re a sarcastic person:
Our Sarcasm Gets Mistaken for Ignorance
When someone states a fact and we respond with “no way!” or “who knew?”, we don’t actually mean it. However, sometimes people don’t know we are kidding and they just stare at us with a look of sympathy. The puns we make aren’t always our real opinions either.
We Have to Tell People When We are Being Serious
Most of the time, people don’t take what we say seriously because we joke around a lot. But when we do give someone an honest compliment, then they think we are making fun of them. The compliments we give are usually followed by the phrase, “Really, I’m being serious.”
We are Bad at Nailing First Impressions
Being sarcastic is our way of connecting with people. But sometimes it can be too much for someone who doesn’t know us, and then we come off as rude or obnoxious- when in reality, we are just having fun. Our sense of humor is an “acquired taste”. So when it comes to making friends, essentially, our only choice is to find people who are just as brutal as we are.
We Forget That We’re Being Sarcastic
Sarcasm slides out of our mouths so often that, sometimes, we forget we are doing it. So when people ask us if we are being sarcastic, we don’t really know.
People Immediately Know How We Feel
It takes a lot for us to get truly excited, because usually we respond to activities our friends are going wild about with an, “Oh great”, or “That’ll be real fun, can’t wait.” Even when we are slightly excited about something, we express it with sarcasm, saying something like, “I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it because I only really, really, really, really, really want to do it.” We just don’t understand how people get excited about the most basic things. But since we have a reply for every statement, everyone knows how we feel quickly.
We Have a Hard Time Being Around Super Sweet People
We get nervous around emotional and sensitive people because we are afraid we will say something and accidentally hurt their feelings in a matter of seconds. To be safe, we have to say the words, “I’m just kidding,” after every sentence. When people don’t understand our sense of humor, we do a lot of laughing by ourselves.
We Need a Font Style for Sarcasm
Texting our friends is usually safe. Texting other people puts us at risk of getting our words taken the wrong way. I don’t like emojis, and italics don’t always get the job done. We need a font that conveys our sarcasm.
We Use Sarcasm to Cover Things Up
We use sarcasm while talking to people we don’t like. While on the opposite end of the spectrum, we use it to humor those we do like. Whenever people hurt our feelings or irritate us, we usually have a comment for them and they don’t know whether it’s sarcastic or not. But we’ll never admit that we deal with bad emotions through sarcasm rather than just simply admitting we’re hurt. We also use sarcasm when we are having a horrible time keeping a conversation going.
We Know We’re Walking on Thin Ice
We are always a little concerned that we are going to get slapped in the face for saying the wrong thing, at the wrong time, to the wrong person. We know we are playing a dangerous game, but we play it anyway.
We Pretty Much Live Two Separate Lives
At work, we are the most considerate, polite people that ever existed. Around our friends, we’re downright honest. I mean, we can’t be ourselves at work. We would get fired for sure if we talked to our coworkers like we talk to our friends. Nothing is more satisfying than finding someone who is as sarcastic as us, as we are with them right away.
Featured photo credit: Prachi Gupta via salon.com
