This troper had to put up with so much bullying in school that she is quite literally ready to castrate (regardless of gender), scoop out the eyeballs of, and finally kill anyone who tries to insult her and then clip "Just kidding" on the end when she takes offense or a teacher asks about it.

And if you try to do that thing where you argue with me, saying "No, it's X" while I'm going "No, it's Y", and an authority figure is asked and proves me right, and you then try to say "I TOLD you it was Y! I've Been saying it all along!"....I will hire the biggest, creepiest mouth-breather I can find to ass-rape you and ditch your remains in an undisclosed location and...where was I going with this?

This troper's girlfriend had the annoying habit of phrasing criticisms this way. And insisting that she really was just kidding despite the fact that the "just kidding" would come out in a monotone. #QUOTE# "This place is a pig sty! Just kidding."

During a semester with roommates who were firm in their belief that I had no sense of humor (beats me why, they were weird) I was forced to tack on "Joking!" or "Just kidding!" to almost every snarky comment I made, otherwise they would think I was serious.

Hands up everyone who was bullied at school. Now, hands down if your bullies never tried this. *keeps hand in air*

*raises three hands*

And the other hand belonged to someone who perpetrated this, I gather.

*raises hand as well*

*follows suit*

*holds up one hand, continues polishing a gun with the other*

*holds up one hand so that he can continue to hold said bully in a Muay Thai clinch and deliver knees to the chest*

Isn't it so often the case that those who are quickest to use the "just joking" excuse are also the worst ones when it comes to taking jokes themselves. My ex was like that, she would often say nasty things about me, including infront of her and my friends, and when I complained say "I'm just joking dear" and even "lighten up". If I dared to have a joke at her expense it would usually end up with me getting hit, if I was lucky. For some reason the relationship didn't last long.

I find it even more aggrevating when this one is used, when they're just criticizing: #QUOTE# "Can't you see I was being sarcastic?"

I tend to insert this at the end of comments that could get me in huge trouble, if they were true, such as "Yeah, a lot of people have told me [not to smoke.] Everyone and everything, when you're on acid, Just Kidding! I don't do acid."

I always have used this to try to break some ice in a vain hope of getting positive responses from people and if it goes bad I would fix it with "just kidding". always sucks to have to throw those words out to save myself from getting in an argument or fight or worse.

This troper really isn't a bad person, but there are some aspects of herself she can't help and she often taps into the freedom of being true to herself with this trope as a shield. #QUOTE# "Your girlfriend sounds pretty cool." #QUOTE# (Me) "Then let's head down to her house for a threesome! HAHA! just kidding...

My dad refuses to think I might have actually been trying to tell a joke and thinks I just do this as an excuse to insult people. I don't. Truth is that I just have a very bitchy personality and that seeps into a lot of jokes I attempt to make, often ending in DudeNotFunny moments and me more often than not wishing I hadn't opened my mouth in the first place.

This troper has a subversion. His ex thought he was going to play this trope when he asked her to be his girlfriend. Interestingly enough, this troper uses his facebook to invert this trope and actually joke with some of his friends.

A variant: I was trying to stage a ''Mage: The Ascension'' adventure a while back, and one of my potential players (after making a creepy comment of "I always play necromancers") wanted to have the power to summon forth a vast army of zombies. When I pointed out how such a thing would be inappropriate for the setting (not to mention far too powerful and advanced for a starting-level character) he replied that "It's just supposed to be a funny gimmick". Yes, he dearly wanted to believe that calling forth an undead horde could ever be considered a wacky little parlor trick, and he thought I'd allow it just because he called it "a gimmick". No, he didn't even say he was joking, he really wanted me to let him have a zombie army. He didn't make it into the game.

This troper's brother does this ''all the time''. #QUOTE#"That thing you made looks dumb!" #QUOTE#"Hey, I think it looks cool!" #QUOTE#"Then ''you're'' dumb!" #QUOTE#"I'm telling mom-" #QUOTE#"Hey, I was just kidding! God, learn to take a joke!"

I used to have a friend who would make jokes at my expense constantly and then use this trope as an excuse. Once when we were out at a restaurant with some friends, he made a joke about my recent ex being better off without me, so I brought up a girl he hooked up with at camp. (She hooked up with literally half the guys at camp after him, but he was already thinking of dumping her before he found that out.) He stopped eating, didn't speak for the rest of the day, and wouldn't move unless another friend held his hand. To everyone out there struggling with bullying friends, fuck 'em if they can dish it out but can't take it.