I don't know where I went wrong, but my son seems to think April Fools' Day is the best holiday of all. He has BIG plans on how to get the best of his mom and dad, and presumably his friends and sister, by creating hijinks and laughs galore. He thinks he gets a free pass when he then declares, "April Fools!"
I remember when he was much younger, it was difficult trying to explain to him the concept of a joke. Humor is learned, cultural behavior and it's difficult to display enough comprehension to realize that everything that is said is not true (and ironically, this realization came as we hammered home the importance of telling the truth, especially when mom or dad were involved). Sarcasm was the last learned behavior, as he figured out that tone and overstatement can have a message all of their own. Sadly, it appears he's caught on incredibly well now (he's twelve). We're now moving on to the learned behavior of when it is socially acceptable to pull pranks and jokes into the open.
Some adults never make that learning jump, and speakers - even seasoned ones - may be some of the worst offenders of all. Emotion and meaning do not always carry well through implication. And it almost never carries appropriately through written text.
I remember an example of my younger days in the business world. Inside a corporation, I had seen a co-worker's web page with a Dilbert cartoon poking fun at people (managers) who didn't know what they wanted. Even though I didn't know this person, I initiated an email query to him with a reference to the cartoon, a nonsense paragraph that mimicked the cartoon, and an open-ended, vague query - intending to create dialog. Apparently, he was busy and not in a humor mood. He forwarded the email without comment to a wide range of people, including his superior, who responded to all, including MY boss, with the simple statement, "I don't know how you can expect an answer when you don't know what you are asking." Apparently, he didn't read the cartoon. And my attempt at humor and sarcasm fell silent as a first impression and my own reputation took a hit.
The principle is simple. When business is on the line or relationships do not carry a high level of commitment and friendship to handle a potential misunderstanding, sarcasm and pranks are best left out. At best, the intended recipient misses the message and walks away confused. Worse, there is often a lasting negative effect and a barrier to future communication.
The rallying cry for sarcasm (and most planned humor):
When in doubt, leave it out.
