private joke

English

Noun

private joke (plural private jokes)

1. Synonym of inside joke (“a joke that is understood or meant to be understood only by certain people who are aware of the details”)

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English private joke.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁaj.vɛt dʒok/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

private joke m or f (plural private jokes)

1. a private joke, an in-joke: a piece of humour understood only by a group of people
   • 1994, Jean-Yves Pidoux, Langhoff à Lausanne: L’ouragan lent, Editions d’en bas, →ISBN, page 254:

     Après un private joke où, pour l’hilarité des initiés, il cite la première réplique de son entrée dans le Schnitzler – «Déjà de l’ambiance !» —, l’acteur cherche un personnage qui […]

     After an in-joke where, for the hilarity of the initiated, he quotes the first reply of his entry in the Schnitzler — “Already some atmosphere!” — the actor seeks a character who […]

   • 2003, Justine Malle (translator), Greil Marcus (author), Dead Elvis: Chronique d’une obsession culturelle, Éditions Allia, →ISBN, page 35; original English from Greil Marcus, Dead Elvis: A Chronicle of a Cultural Obsession, Harvard University Press (1999), →ISBN, page 22:

     Il faut y voir plus qu’une private joke de la part de Cohn.

     This is more than Cohn’s little in-joke.

   • 2007, Didier Luccantoni, Croisière sans retour, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 71:

     L’accent grec était devenu un private joke au sein de l’équipe de croisière en faisant référence à l’âge d’or des croisières Bon-Temps quelques années auparavant lorsqu’ils […]

     The Greek accent had become a private joke among the Croisière team, referring to the golden age of the Bon-Temps Croisières some years earlier, when they […]

Usage notes

• This expression, being a loan-phrase, is frequently written in italics.