london.localmean.com/jokes
jokes
JOHKS · /dʒəʊks/
Local meaning
Very funny, entertaining, enjoyable, or—in some uses—simply very good.
As a slang adjective, “jokes” evaluates something as funny or entertaining: a video, story, person, night out, or situation can be “jokes”. Some speakers extend it to mean excellent or enjoyable more generally. This differs from the ordinary plural noun in “three jokes”.
Examples in context
- That video is bare jokes.
- The whole journey home was jokes, even with the delay.
- She is jokes once you get to know her.
How it is used
Grammar distinguishes the slang adjective from the plural noun. “That was jokes” evaluates something, while “he told jokes” refers to humorous stories or lines.
Amused, approving, enthusiastic, or affectionate.
Banter, videos, stories, events, music, and social media.
Informal conversation and online spaces.
Calling a serious or painful event “jokes” can sound dismissive when others are affected.
Spelling and scope
UK youth slang associated with MLE and other multiethnic urban varieties; now familiar in wider informal British speech.
Common search forms stay discoverable without claiming that every London community uses one spelling.
Common patterns
- bare jokes
- that was jokes
- she is jokes
- proper jokes
Read next
All words →Evidence and further reading
Sources support the definition, history, or usage layer. Local review remains welcome.
- jokes — UK slang adjectiveWiktionary contributors
Community lexicographic record of adjective uses meaning funny, entertaining, or very good.
- Using social media to infer the diffusion of an urban contact dialect: A case study of Multicultural London EnglishJournal of Sociolinguistics
Peer-reviewed study of the wider diffusion of MLE-associated vocabulary, with a documented list of 75 lexical items.
- Multicultural London EnglishCambridge University Press
Research overview of MLE as an urban contact variety used across ethnic backgrounds.