inside joke
A joke that is understood or meant to be understood only by certain people who are aware of the details (an ingroup).
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“They laughed at an inside joke during dinner.”
“I felt a bit left out because my friends kept laughing at an inside joke from their trip.”
“The colleagues shared a knowing glance, their amusement sparked by an inside joke that remained entirely opaque to the rest of the room.”
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bad joke
A situation that is badly planned, or illogical.
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half joke
A statement which contains elements of both jest and seriousness.
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take a joke
To accept a joke at one's expense.
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the joke is on someone
Someone is the butt of a joke or is experiencing a negative outcome, especially if that person was trying to make someone else the butt of the joke or subject them to the negative outcome.
Last updated August 10, 2026