beyond a joke en · ADP
Meanings
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(idiomatic) Increasingly serious or harmful.
'I may say that I noticed you in court today, sir, and putting one thing and another together—' 'Quite right,' assented Carrados. 'It is about today's case. These post office hold-ups are getting beyond a joke, inspector.'
1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries: