its also a cultural thing. I from Cork city in ireland where the humor is very dead pan and sarcastic. No problem when you are dealing with local people. but very tricky when you are dealing with non-cork people. (espcially the french, they do not get Irish humour AT ALL). So, i need to be extra carefull incase i sound a bit smart arsed. Also, because of the inet, people cannot see a cheeky grin, then they wont realise its meant as humour.