inside joke

Related to inside joke: Private joke

inside joke

A joke that is amusing to certain people but is not readily understandable or humorous to others. Oh, they're all giggling over some stupid inside joke. It's an inside joke, Mom—you wouldn't get it.
See also: inside, joke
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

inside joke

a joke that only certain people understand; a joke understood only by people who know certain facts and context. What you said must be an inside joke. It makes no sense to me.
See also: inside, joke
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • running joke
  • lame joke
  • in on the joke
  • crack a joke
  • get beyond a joke
  • be/get/go beyond a joke
  • Don’t make me laugh!
  • don't make me laugh
  • Don't make me laugh!
  • (with) tongue in cheek
References in periodicals archive
Novak is chief of the WME story mafia, and his novel is steeped in inside jokes about stars and the crazed agents who represent them.
He felt it significant to point out that the senior clerk at the branch office was an African-American, and that this individual and his colleagues did not ascribe any significance to the noose beyond it being an inside joke.
Now, Dharma Productions' official Instagram handle shared a behind-the-scenes picture of Janhvi and Ishaan sharing an inside joke.
In many of Modi's tweets during national elections, he referred to the main opposition party as corrupt and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, who also has a huge Twitter following, as"Rahul Baba"or"Shahzada (prince)." By using humour and sarcasm, he was signalling that the party was not in touch with its roots and letting his own followers get the inside joke, the researchers said.
Farmer Robert Slater added: "It is an inside joke at the farm as we now have a little tally board to keep track of the 'goat out comments' as we can get up to 10 a day so far.
He said they posed like that because they lost a bet and it was just a joke that never should have gone public because it was an inside joke."
Those of us blessed not to live in cities where you live and die by the car may be unaware of Los Angeles's impending Carmageddonthe closure, on Saturday, July 16, and Sunday, July 17, of the 405 Freeway, which is guaranteed to usher in the Four Horsemen, who will proceed to get stuck for five hours on the 10 (oh yeah that's right a little SoCal inside joke for everyone).
What you write on the inside of the card doesn't have to be a long paragraph about how deep your love is -- an inside joke between the two of you will do wonders.
"It has become an inside joke at the store that part of the job description is that you must be a 'beautiful person'."
The work recalls Duchamp's language games (think of his altered commercial paint sign, Apolinere Enameled, 1916-17, its rearranged letters creating a gnomic inside joke) as well as those of Bruce Nauman--for instance his photographs of himself performing idiomatic expressions to the letter (e.g., "eating my words").
Basically it's an inside joke turned into a tattoo.
Harvey made the best of it, and his good-natured prodding has become an inside joke between my partner and me.
You would not really think it was Josh Brolin as Cable until Deadpool made the unnecessary inside joke by calling him, Thanos.
He's talking about their next assignment, but of course, it's an inside joke -- with the audience.
It's an inside joke wrapped in a fanboy fantasy, pieced together through a haze of ironic detachment."