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Microsoft tweets 'joke' about raises (really)

The official Microsoft developer account decides to make fun of CEO Satya Nadella's recent faux-pas in suggesting women shouldn't ask for raises.

Chris Matyszczyk

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Someone thought this tweet was funny. Did that someone think of the array of possible reactions? Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

In the annals of "oh, no, they didn't, oh, yes they did," one of today's tweets might win the week.

For the official Microsoft Developer Twitter account decided to emit this glorious item: "Why did the programmer quit his job? Because he didn't get arrays. #devlife."

And a thousand mathematically-minded humans snickered.

These would be the thousand mathematically-minded humans who hadn't sniffed the doo-doo into which Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently stepped when he suggested at a women's tech conference that women shouldn't ask for raises, but should trust karma.

Yes, he subsequently apologized, explaining that he was describing his own experience. He hadn't thought that perhaps not many women, if any, had enjoyed the same karmic blessings.

Still, this tweet manages to exacerbate the indefensible, which seems unwise. Already, the tweet has attracted an array of thoughts.

Some do, indeed, find it funny. On the other hand, devOPs engineer Randi Harper offered this: "Why did the programmer quit her job? Because she was tired of seeing her employer not acknowledge her existence. Karma?"

Microsoft's hard-of-karmic-hearing tweet was posted at 10:30 a.m. PT. A couple of hours later, the developer account posted a light mea culpa: "Our lighthearted (& bad) pun crossed into insensitive and unintended areas. Sincerest apologies."

Yes, it was just a bit of pun.

Updated at 3:37 pm PT with apology from Microsoft Developer Twitter account