No, I was Kidding - Really!

I have a bad habit of doing something with language that is intended to be joking, and all too often comes across as tiresome.  Those who know me well give me a pass when I do it (mostly) or play along (sometimes), but occasionally it just gets me into trouble.

I was recently called by a senior colleague who said he had some "conundrums" for me to figure through.

"Conundra?"  I replied brightly, realizing about 0.07 seconds after it came out of my mouth that I must have sounded like I was trying to correct him.  In point of fact, I have no idea if it's correct or not,* and was trying to make an (admittedly lame) joke.  Luckily, about 2.03 seconds after I started apologizing for sounding like a pedantic jerk, he remembered who he was talking to and lobbed back, "Conundrae?"  Whereupon we had a speed round of "Made up Latin Declensions."

I really should stop doing it, though.  Otherwise I'm sure to land in the hell that is this situation more often than I already do.

*After reading this, I'm still not sure, but Guardian readers do get terrifically overheated about the issue.