A joking ‘Brilliant timing’ can look like criticism when it arrives without a smile, voice or shared moment. The sender hears the joke internally. The reader receives only the sentence.
Research by Kruger and colleagues found that people can overestimate how clearly they communicate tone by email. That study does not mean every joke will fail. It offers a useful reminder that your intention may be more obvious to you than to someone else. Read the study.
For an ordinary message, ask whether the humour depends on the recipient imagining the correct voice. If the answer is yes, consider adding the missing context or writing the underlying point directly. ‘Perfect timing, genuinely! We just finished’ is different from leaving the reader to decide whether you are annoyed.
Shared humour also has boundaries. A joke that works privately with a friend can feel exposing in a group. A familiar teasing style may be unwelcome during a difficult moment.
When a joke lands badly, explain it without making the reader responsible for the misunderstanding: ‘I meant that playfully, but I can see it read differently. Let me say it clearly.’ Repair is more useful than proving that the joke should have worked.