Behind the Shukri Conrad wisecracks and one-liners, the nudge-nudge, wink-wink that South Africa have done it again, and the plain crude memes that turn the Coca-Cola logo into the word choke, there is real and raw disappointment that South Africa will confront after another major tournament failure. Beyond the hurt, and there's plenty of that, they will also need to ask how they got here and the answers could be difficult to find.
This was not a tournament where South Africa had obvious flaws, even if it seemed so at the start. The original squad, which excluded Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs, corrected itself through injuries which ruled Tony de Zorzi and Donovan Ferreira out, and both went on to play important roles in the T20 World Cup.
The absence of a wristspinner was made up for by what Conrad called "mystery seam" in the form of Lungi Ngidi's impossible-to-copy slower ball and it's difficult to say not having another option cost South Africa. There was experience in the ranks as only five of the 15-member squad - Dewald Brevis, Jason Smith, Kwena Maphaka, George Linde and Corbin Bosch - had not been at a T20 World Cup before. And the newcomers, particularly Bosch, did their bit.
If South Africa really want to distill what went wrong, it could come down to losing one toss and what happened in one over, the one bowled by Cole McConchie in the semi-final. He dismissed Quinton de Kock and Rickelton with two fairly ordinary deliveries and put South Africa in a position they could not recover from. Things change quickly and dramatically in T20 cricket and South Africa were at the coal face of it against New Zealand's clear, smart opening plans.
What happened after that: the tight lines New Zealand bowled, the way they dried up boundaries, the rescue effort from Marco Jansen that was only actually an indication that batting was becoming easier and South Africa's own inability to keep control with the ball could be put down to an inability to recover and adapt as they had before. Conrad was certain it had nothing to do with nervous tension but it's difficult to think that could be entirely true. Even though baggage is something South Africa have worked tirelessly to leave behind, they still find old receipts when they dig deep enough into their pockets.
The test will be how far this tournament's bad smells travel with them and you get the sense that Conrad already has the air freshener out. Though he can come across as flippant, Conrad cares deeply and is meticulous about meeting the expectations that have been put on him. That's where the crux of this conversation lies. This wasn't necessarily one of them.
Don't read that as Cricket South Africa saying this doesn't matter but their priorities, especially over the last three years, have been clearly laid out. They had two big projects: last year's World Test Championship final and next year's home ODI World Cup. They ticked the first box and believe they have the personnel for the second.
"This group can grow a lot of positives from the last sort of 12 months. When I say that, I'm obviously referring to the other formats as well," Ashwell Prince, South Africa's batting coach, said afterwards. "A large chunk of these guys played in the Test Championship. And next year is a home World Cup, 50-over. We'll have quite a few survivors from this tournament next year. We can only grow from these experiences. I'm sure a large chunk of this group will stay together."
That doesn't mean they didn't want to win this T20 tournament - who doesn't? - but it does mean this was a bit of a free hit. And they swung hard.
The problem came, as it often does, with the hope that grew alongside South Africa's seven-match winning streak. Not only did they win convincingly, but they made the venue of the final, Ahmedabad, their own. All the talk was that if they got to the final, surely they would win it. The semi-final was just a step along the way which nobody was making a big deal of until it became the biggest deal. The balloon popped, and it made South Africa look like the kid left holding the stick.
The next thing to come is usually tears but South Africa didn't spill any. That is perhaps the biggest sign that they knew how far they were from winning. There is no secret sauce to winning a tournament and there are several examples of when the team that plays best isn't the one that lifts the trophy. Too often, that team has been South Africa.
No-one can fault their effort or their consistency in being competitive just as no-one can explain why that little bit of luck keeps evading them. They'll try to console themselves with the logic that the more knockouts they reach, the better the chance they are giving themselves of eventually winning the trophy. At the same time, they'll also live through the emotions that the more knockouts they lose, the less anyone believes they'll actually win one.
Convincing those people, especially their own fans who have invested so much of themselves into the team's performances, will be a task for another day. For now, South Africa will watch their former coach Rob Walter, who took them to the final two years ago, attempt to create his own piece of history with New Zealand. Don't be surprised to hear they'll be supporting him and his team because no-one knows more than South Africa what it feels like to be so close to winning but never quite getting there. And they'll hope next time is theirs.