🗓️ Idiom: Have a Joke/laugh at Someone’s Expense (noun phrase)
💬 Meaning
- To make fun of someone in a way that might embarrass them.
- In the workplace, it means joking about a colleague or situation where one person is the target of the humour.
🧠 Example Sentences
- The team had a laugh at John’s expense when he mixed up the client’s name, but he took it well.
- You should never have a joke at someone’s expense if it might hurt their feelings.
- The meeting turned light-hearted when everyone had a laugh at the manager’s expense after his funny typo.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom comes from the idea that humour can “cost” someone their comfort or dignity. It has been used since the 1800s to describe situations where jokes are made about a person, especially when others find it funny at their expense.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
The team had ________ when he spilled coffee all over his notes before the meeting.
Answer
a laugh at his expense
2. Multiple choice:
If something is “a laugh at someone’s expense,” it means:
a) Everyone is laughing together equally
b) Someone is the target of the joke
c) Nobody finds the joke funny
Answer
b) Someone is the target of the joke
3. Change the sentence using “a laugh at someone’s expense”:
“They joked about her mistake during the presentation.”
Answer
They had a laugh at her expense after her mistake during the presentation.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
📚 Learning Resources
👉 Idioms for Humour in the Workplace
👉 Business English Idioms List
👥 Support Spaces
👉 Student Space
👉 Tutor Toolkit
⭐️ Extras
📫 Get a Daily Idiom
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Rob is a CELTA qualified English teacher with 15 years of international experience. He has a BSc and PGDip from Loughborough and St Andrews universities in the UK. He has taught in Thailand and Saudi Arabia and now works with professionals worldwide.
