article_snippet.sent: Sarcasm is often described as the lowest form of wit, but it seems you need the right kind of wits in the first place to be able to recognise it.
article_snippet.sent: Used effectively, sarcasm can provide a devastating put down.
article_snippet.sent: Researchers claim that being exposed to sarcasm required more ‘cognitive complexity’, or the ability to see things from more than one angle.
article_snippet.sent: Professor Argye Hillis, a neurologist at John Hopkins Medical School who oversaw a study, said: 'Failure to recognize sarcasm can lead to important miscommunications. '
article_snippet.sent: Even for healthy people sarcasm can be hard to detect and some cultures use it far more than others.
article_snippet.sent: British comedy, for example, has a reputation for being notoriously sarcastic.
article_snippet.sent: Sarcasm is well known as a complex form of communication as it requires the listener to understand the literal meaning of what someone is saying.
article_snippet.sent: The popular Blackadder comedy series (above) tapped into the British love of sarcasm as a form of humour .
article_snippet.sent: Professor Hillis told LiveScience:'Family and friends can be counseled to avoid sarcasm to prevent misunderstandings.'