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Glite Dictionary
to go along with the gag

to go along with the gag

8.2
To pretend to join a joke or prank to keep others laughing
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : seguir la broma
  • To entertain the kids, the teacher chose to go along with the gag and acted like a silly clown doing tricks.

Examples

  • During the party, everyone decided to go along with the gag and pretended to be in a serious business meeting.

  • But just to go along with the gag, what do you need me for?

    Fiction book (2001)

  • When his friends started joking about being superheroes, he happily went along with the gag and wore a cape.

Synonyms

to go along
vsto go along with the gag
144 3.5

To pretend to agree with someone to avoid trouble

is used to take part in a humorous prank rather than general cooperation
to play along
vsto go along with the gag
  • Informal
54 4.2

To agree or pretend to agree to avoid trouble

is mainly for joining a humorous act or pretending belief for fun

Antonyms

to refuse
716 1.7

To say no to a request or offer

to resist
311 2.2

Act against authority, rules or change

How Playful

to perform
583 2.7
to go along with the gag
  • Informal
8.2
to join in
143 1.1
to share a laugh
  • Informal
2 2.2
to watch
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

go along with the gag infinitive
going along with the gag present participle
goes along with the gag third person singular
went along with the gag past
gone along with the gag past participle

Morphology

go + along + with + the + gag

The meaning is directly compositional: 'go along with' expresses agreeing/cooperating and 'gag' means a joke or prank, so a learner who knows those words can infer 'to cooperate in a joke.' This verb + prepositional phrase + noun pattern is common and cross-linguistically transparent, making the expression readily understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituents.

Etymology

The phrase go along with the gag comes from theater and group jokes: a gag is a small trick or joke, and to go along means to join in and pretend with others so the joke works. That's why it now means 'to cooperate or join the joke'.