Yeah...another Captain Obvious moment...lmao

Of course, it depends on whether we are talking about the Great Lakes and where the shore USED to be or where it is now....lol

Sarcasm is a funny thing (pun intended). You belittled the guy... much of it because he wasn't smart enough to figure his way out. But he was probably asking questions that were none of his business and it may have been the intent.

When sarcasm is used with friends it's funny to everyone. When sarcasm is used towards a stranger where he doesn't have the background to know whether you're teasing or just being mean, or someone you just don't care whether you offend, it can be very pointed.

I'd say, in this case, as long as you don't mind making the guy feel like an idiot, then it's fine. I usually (usually) prefer not to make people feel like an idiot (even if they walk into it) because it also tends to make me look like an ass. But frankly there are times when I don't care whether I look like an ass and there are times when I actually do want to be an ass (that's a lot of assiness in that paragraph).

Well...he has been working with me for a while now....and he knows how I am. He knew I was messing with him, but he got frustrated because I kept giving him the obvious answers to his obvious questions.

Not to mention, I didn't actually " belittle " him. I had enough of that crap, and I don't do it to anyone else.

Using sarcasm doesn't always construe belittling someone. An example of doing that would be Don Rickles' use of sarcasm to make people feel stupid.

My use was simply my way of telling him that he could have simply asked " How old are you? " rather than try to ask around the subject.

Sarcasm and how it is interpreted, is heavily dependent on the delivery being used.

yeah, that's true too.

People misinterpreting the delivery is what gives sarcasm a bad name. :-)