standing joke

Idioms  

1. Something that is always funny even though it is often repeated. For example, Mary's “Dennis who?” when her husband is mentioned is a standing joke around here. This idiom employs standing in the sense of “established” or “regular,” a usage dating from the mid-1500s.

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Example Sentences

In the Boeing corridors, the standing joke was that “McDonnell Douglas bought Boeing with Boeing’s money.”

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 10, 2024

"It's kind of a standing joke at the test centre where we say 'oh, that's £30 for the lesson and 45 for the consultation'," she said.

From BBC • Jan. 1, 2023

But we have, at least, moved from “infrastructure week” as a standing joke into a months-long effort that will test whether our government is still capable of doing big things.

From Washington Post • Mar. 31, 2021

Our standing joke is that media criticism is like asbestos abatement: it’s dangerous, tends to get all over you and should be left to the experts.

From Fox News • Jan. 13, 2020

My grandfather and I had a standing joke.

From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath