it is a risky gamble IMHO. (some) needy/vain people use it to 'prove' to themselves 'I am so close to person X that we understand each other so well that when I say the opposite they still understand me'. IE it's a bit like yanking a chain to prove it still holds.

Problems with that.. people get tired of people continuing to yank chains for no good reason (cry wolf). And other people are busy with their own lines of thought and lives. So instead of the intended (wow we understand each other/so close!), 25% (* ) of the time instead the receiver thinks "hmm he's probably in a bad mood today?!" So, net effect is instead often to be viewed as grumpy moody.

Famously, kids don't parse sarcasm well, neither at them or others. My grandfather, who was, in retrospect, actually rather cool, was viewed as semihostile by us kids, because he often phrased his terms of endearment sarcastically. Net result was that we thought he didn't like us much, merely tolerated us. That is what macho sarcasm got him.

Now I am his age, with similarly bad habits. I guess my kids will end up sarcastic too.

( * *) A number I scientifically arrived at by pulling it directly from my posterior.

Now I don’t know if you’re being sarcastic. Damn it!