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.

---

Example Sentences

A standing joke between us is Gail saying, “And there’s another problem.”

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 5, 2025

A standing joke was that if Washington’s statue could talk, the great man would say, “Here is my sword; my clothes are at the Patent Office.”

From Washington Post • Jan. 22, 2023

"There's a bit of standing joke in the village about it," he said.

From BBC • Sep. 27, 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