7 Everyday Phrases That Secretly Manipulate Your Mind—Are You Falling for Them?
They’ll say something hurtful about your looks, your intelligence, or your decisions, and then they’ll follow it up with, “Relax, I was only kidding.”
When you call them out, they flip the narrative, making it look like you’re overreacting, unable to take a joke.
This is a classic gaslighting move because it turns attention away from their disrespectful behavior and places the blame on your reaction.
The folks at Psychology Today stand behind this, noting that humor can sometimes be a Trojan horse for aggression.
