This one has coded

Hello! The quote below is from the movie—a woman, Addy, found herself in the world where Christmas never existed:

[Mother]: "Christmas? What is that? Is that another one of your branding campaigns?"
[The mother and father say they like Thanksgiving better than Christmas.]
[Addy]: [----]. This whole, I don't remember Christmas, thing, I know I wasn't very enthusiastic when I first got here.
[----]

What does "code" means here? I got the general idea but I couldn't find the meaning in the dictionaries...

Thank you!

< Text reduced to comply with 4-sentence limit on quotation (Rule 4). Cagey, moderator >

It should mean, roughly, that the joke is dead or nearly dead. This information from Healthline about the meaning of codes in hospital jargon may be helpful:

Hospitals often use code names to alert staff to an emergency. Code blue means a medical emergency. Code red means fire or smoke. Code black typically means there is a bomb threat. Hospitals are the most common institutions that use color codes to designate emergencies.

No, like you, I get the general idea from that context, but it's not a use of 'code' that I've ever seen. I think owlman5's idea is good - but it also might be something else.

The idea 'shelf life' suggests food that is past its expiry date - and foods might have codes too - but I don't know any use of 'code' that fits with that.

In American hospital dramas you get a lot of dialogue where some medical person tells another that "Mr X is coding/ has coded" and it always means Mr X is having some major near-death medical emergency. In the context above, "this joke has coded" can only mean that the joke is dead/dying. So, in a nutshell, I agree with Owlman.

Which movie is this from please @Zwei.fel ? I suspect it is American.

Tegs said:

Which movie is this from please @Zwei.fel ? I suspect it is American.

It's from "Where Are You, Christmas?" (2023) — you're right it's American!

Thank you so much, owlman5, entangledbank, Tegs!

As stated above, it's from medical terminology (or jargon): "Its expiration date has passed [= it's been run into the ground, it's no longer funny]."

That usage is very common in American English, at least in medical dramas and I assume in real life as well in the right places. Often (almost always?) it's a direct response to a heart monitor indicating that the heart has stopped beating -- which requires an immediate emergency response.

You might see a line of dialogue like, "He coded three times in the ambulance on the way over." That means his heart stopped beating three times and had to be restarted with a defibrillator or by some other means.

I haven't seen it used often in a more figurative way like in the OP but obviously it means the joke is dead. Beyond saving.