: a joke only understood by the few people who know what it refers to
Examples of private joke in a Sentence
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The grade school kids at A Minecraft Movie had a rollicking good time laughing, talking back to the screen, and doing karaoke repetitions of the dialogue as though appreciating something of their own — a familiar, private joke, a playground, a fun movie.—Armond White, National Review, 16 Apr. 2025 Toné! came from a private joke about a mutual friend’s name.—Clay Risen, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2025 The world is a private joke between me and my thangs.—Laia Garcia-Furtado, Vogue, 27 Feb. 2025 This gallows humor amounts to a national private joke — perhaps never intended to be taken seriously (not with characters named Dementus, Scrotus, and Rictus Erectus) except by comic-book fanatics emboldened by cinematic representation.—Armond White, National Review, 24 May 2024 Two women sharing a weirdly private joke in a public place.—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 25 May 2023 But in rare photos that capture King breaking into a huge, uninhibited grin, Belafonte is often at his side, hugging him and sharing some private joke.—John Blake, CNN, 25 Apr. 2023
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