An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or a private joke, is a
joke whose
humour
Humour (Commonwealth English) or humor ( American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids i ...
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 ...
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, where people in the know may find humour in something not explicitly spoken. They may even apologize for doing so to a
rookie
A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year).
In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...
, 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 Convention (norm), 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 s ...
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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 from ...
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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