to be honest, modern language is full of in-jokes, memes and cultural references
these take the forms of idioms, collocations and all the other stuff I have to explain to foreigners.

Did you know that the idea of boycotting comes from what Lord Boycott's farmers did to him? No, but you still use the word, what with it being a 200-year-old in-joke.
( Grrrmachine the indifference engine, Thu 11 Jun 2009, 9:19, archived)