An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or a private joke, is a
joke
A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laughter, laugh and is usually not meant to be interpreted literally. It usually takes the form of a story, often with ...
whose
humour
Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Gre ...
is understandable only to members of an
ingroup; that is, people who are ''in'' a particular social group, occupation, or other community of shared interest. It is, therefore, an
esoteric
Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas a ...
joke, only humorous to those who are aware of the circumstances behind it.
In-jokes may exist within a small social clique, such as a group of friends, or extend to an entire profession or other relatively large group. An example is:
::Q: What's yellow and equivalent to the
axiom of choice
In mathematics, the axiom of choice, or AC, is an axiom of set theory equivalent to the statement that ''a Cartesian product of a collection of non-empty sets is non-empty''. Informally put, the axiom of choice says that given any collection ...
?
::A: Zorn's lemon.
Individuals not familiar with the mathematical result
Zorn's lemma are unlikely to understand the joke. The joke is a
pun on the name of this result.
Ethnic or religious groups may also have in-jokes.
Philosophy
In-jokes are cryptic allusions to shared common ground that act as selective triggers; only those who share that common ground are able to respond appropriately. An in-joke can work to build community, sometimes at the expense of outsiders. Part of the power of an in-joke is that its audience knows that many do not understand it.
An in-joke can also be used as a
subtext
Subtext is any content of a creative work, which is not announced explicitly (by characters or author), but is implicit, or becomes something understood by the audience. Subtext has been used historically to imply controversial subjects without ...
, where people in the know may find humour in something not explicitly spoken. They may even apologize for doing so to a
rookie, directly or indirectly stating that what they were laughing at was an in-joke.
See also
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Shibboleth
A shibboleth (; hbo, , šībbōleṯ) is any custom or tradition, usually a choice of phrasing or even a single word, that distinguishes one group of people from another. Shibboleths have been used throughout history in many societies as passw ...
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Cultural appropriation
Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate fro ...
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Fictitious entry
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Mathematical joke
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Military humor
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Order of the Occult Hand
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Dog-whistle politics
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:In-Joke
Humor research
de:Witz#Insiderwitz
sv:Humor#Internskämt