他只是在半开玩笑。

He was only half joking.

youdao

他对学校里无尽的可利用资源半开玩笑道：“在某种程度上，耶鲁大学提供的支持很多；但过了一段时间，支持就太多了。”

"There is a lot of support at Yale, to an extent, after a while, there is too much support," he said, half-joking about the countless resources available at the school.

youdao

这话是半开玩笑说出的。

The remark was made half in jest.

《牛津词典》

So you know I say half in jest but it's actually really sad.

这话虽然是半开玩笑，但其实很可悲。

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