You were not downvoted because people took your comment literally, you were downvoted because being snarky runs against the Hacker News guidelines, specifically

You were not downvoted because people took your comment literally, you were downvoted because being snarky runs against the Hacker News guidelines, specifically: > Be civil. Don't say things you wouldn't say face-to-face. Don't be snarky. Comments should get more civil and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive. Sometimes snarky comments will be forgiven if they are substantive. Yours contributes very little beyond what the parent/grandparent comments had already mentioned.