running gag
3
3.7
- noun
- /ˈrʌnɪŋ ɡæɡ/
:
broma recurrente
- There was a running gag on the old TV show "Magnum, P.I."
- makes a running gag
- become a running gag
- running gags on your show
And our football coach hated him so much that every day it became like a running gag.
- And our football coach hated him so much that every day it became like a running gag.
Examples
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Oh, that, uh, is sort of a running gag.
-
By the way, Jesus General has made a running gag of his Amazon reviews.
Blog text (18) -
I do hope they become a running gag.
Blog text (15) -
That's probably the closest thing we ever had to a running gag.
Blog text (30) -
MU's Franklin is well aware of the running gag.
Blog text (7) -
Another great running gag: Ed's obsession with polygraphing everything around him.
Blog text (23) -
This time it's Pip the Troll, who's been hanging around as something of a background running gag ever since he joined the cast.
Blog text (21) -
On a humorous note, it reminds me of that running gag in The Simpsons where they always obscure which state the Simpsons' Springfield is in.
Blog text (30) -
It's something of a running gag at Crave Local HQ, and it's scarier when you see the 5-10 pound bags of Valrhona and Askinosie chocolate in my kitchen.
Blog text (21) -
In our group, the running gag is that Tom always forgets to bring snacks to the party.
Synonyms
5
3.5
A joke people in a group keep mentioning
How Persistent
3
3.7
- Informal
15
3.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a joke repeated over time' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'running' (continuously occurring) with 'gag' (a joke). This compositional pattern (ongoing + joke) is common and cross-linguistically straightforward, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can typically infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Running gag comes from the image of a small 'joke' that keeps moving through a show or story. The word gag means a joke and running shows it appears again and again, so the repeated joke becomes funnier.