Not so "Friendly" Friend

Hey Listen, Your "Friend" just called up.

Have you heard any of your really close friends or your husband or boy friend say this to you in a sarcastic tone? If you have then you know what I mean here. For others, let me put it in a few words. The "Friend" mentioned here is some person whom you do not get along with, or cannot stand or do not like to see. Now the person mentioning this is a person who will be pretty close to you and in good terms with you.

When or why did people start mentioning a non-friendly person to you as your friend? I started contemplating on this after my friend said a similar line to me "Yah she is your close "Friend" right!!"
to mean a girl who is not in good terms with me. Just the stress and sarcastic tone changes the whole meaning of this word. This is not the only word and most certainly it exists in almost all languages. The more I thought about this I came up with more reasons for this. May be the first time someone had to mention it, they were afraid what if that person they are talking about hears this? Or may be the repercussions of the corporate culture where people like to see the glass half full, all the positive thinking stuff... Or it could be because we ran out of negative words or the mind was not quick enough to get one.

However strange it may feel while analyzing this, when used in a normal situation it brings out a secret smile and may be in a while that "Friend" person might soon become a real friend.