Sarcasm

Have you ever felt like tearing a strip off someone? Try sarcasm.
 
The word sarcasm has its origins in the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root twerk. No, not that kind of twerking; PIE twerk means to cut.
 
PIE twerk is the source of Greek sarx (flesh, a piece of meat) and Greek sarkazein (to strip off the flesh).
 
Greek sarkasmos and Latin sarcasmus, from Greek sarkazein, both mean a sneer, a taunt, or mockery. The English word sarcasmus meaning a biting taunt or remark appears in English in the 1570s.
 
The English word sarcasm, from the 1610s, now generally means a form of bitter or scornfully severe humor. Sarcasm has a biting or cutting edge and is often rooted in anger. The word sarcastic is from the 1690s. In contrast, satire is also a form of cutting or biting humor but usually used with a much more humorous tone.
 
Related words include sarcoma and sarcophagus. By the 1650s, sarcoma meant a fleshy excrescence. By 1804, sarcoma meant a malignant tumor or cancer of the connective tissue.
 
Greek sarkophagos and Latin sarcophagus both referred to a type of limestone used for making coffins; i.e., the limestone dissolved or ‘ate’ the flesh of the body.
 
Makes me think twice about the phrase, “tearing a strip off someone.”
 
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
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