Just because sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, doesn't mean it's not funny. Just ask Groucho Marx ( Well he would have agreed if he was alive)
Australians are notorious for sarcasm. They are sarcastic in general conversation, but the use of sarcasm is so entrenched in the colloquial that it goes unnoticed. Until they come to the US and wonder why some of what they say is considered offensive. What they can see as a joke or even just a description on a light note, can be taken literally by someone who finds their interpretation offensive. This problem can ease, as an Australian tourist learns the forms of humor that are common to both countries. Sometimes americans can learn to use sarcasm s...

Just because sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, doesn't mean it's not funny. Just ask Groucho Marx ( Well he would have agreed if he was alive)
Australians are notorious for sarcasm. They are sarcastic in general conversation, but the use of sarcasm is so entrenched in the colloquial that it goes unnoticed. Until they come to the US and wonder why some of what they say is considered offensive. What they can see as a joke or even just a description on a light note, can be taken literally by someone who finds their interpretation offensive. This problem can ease, as an Australian tourist learns the forms of humor that are common to both countries. Sometimes americans can learn to use sarcasm successfully-but not with other americans. When American tourists come to Australia, they have to learn about sarcasm, or they won't have a clue. Sarcasm has a potential to be cruel, but it can be strictly humorous. Sarcasm is like a kind of reverse psychology . If an Australian is insulted by a sarcastic comment, the attitude will be,"Is that all you've got" if it's not funny to anyone, or if it is particularly accurate, inventive, or just funny for no reason, the one being sarcastic is paid a compliment. The fact always remains there are some people who will never take sarcasm kindly, like highway patrol,parking police,supreme court judges,people with guns, collection agencies,and people with hangovers(They might still be sarcastic, but until their head clears they don't like anything.) Australians can be as ignorant as anyone else, it just seems that different people are ignorant about different things. There is enough ignorance in the world for everyone to feel they have the right to be confused.
A sarcastic phrase, which hangs in my memory, may not have been far from the truth. It applied to something that happened maybe in the '70s, but it could still apply today
" The World went into a panic, as peace broke out in the Middle East. "