Butt of a joke 意為「笑柄；被嘲笑或譏笑的對象或目標」。這個慣用語可追溯到 1600 年代，當時射箭練習用的標靶 (target 或 butt) 被放在土堆上。所以，butt of a joke 與 target of a joke 可視為同義詞，可以互換。
若被當作笑柄者至少兩人或者被嘲笑的對象或目標至少兩人，那麼須使用複數，此時這個慣用語的複數型為 butts of jokes。若同一個人被多人當作笑柄或者同一個人成為多個笑話嘲笑的對象或目標，則其複數型為 butt of jokes。
例句：
- My big brother loves to tease me—every time he opens his mouth, I’m the butt of the joke. (我哥哥喜歡開我玩笑 － 每次他一開口，我就成為被取笑的對象)
- Kevin was sick of being the butt of their jokes. (凱文已經受夠了被他們當作笑柄)
- No one likes being the butt of a joke. (沒有人喜歡被當作笑柄)
- Poor Simon was the butt of every joke told that evening. (可憐的賽蒙是當晚所說的每個笑話所嘲笑的目標)