As I found in the dictionary, to 'make a joke of' something means 'laugh or be humorous about (something that is not funny in itself)',
and to joke around means to act amusingly and without seriousness.
From the dictionary definition, I'm not sure whether they mean the same or not, but I guess they do have similar meaning..
What I want to write is :
1) He used to say with a bit of a joke(not seriously) that he was a genius.
And then both
2) He used to make jokes of himself that he was a genius.
3) He used to joke around with himself that he was a genius.
have the same meaning? So 1),2),3) all mean the same and are interchangeable sentence here?
Best Answer
"A joke" is a funny story. So, to "make a joke of something" means to take something normally not funny and make a funny story from it.
If you want to use "a joke" in that sentence, these would sound more natrual:
Or
The second one gives the impression that he had a specific story ("a joke") he would tell.
You could also think about this:
This gives the impression that he would say "I'm a genius" but his tone and facial expressions would make it clear that he was not serious.