The term nerf in respect to video games was actually derived from Nerf guns. Because Nerf guns are basically just normal guns that have been heavily nerfed 😅
Yeah, it comes from debuffs, which was applied to early FPS games when a gun was debuffed, which made the bullets hit less like bullets and more like nerf darts.
This gun used to take a guy out in 2 body shots and now its 5, like I'm shooting with a nerf gun!
I get that. Where is the irony? I think to be ironic there needs to be some air of unexpectedness. I certainly think it's amusing to say that you were buffing a nerf gun, but maybe not unexpected