A person or thing everyone’s taking the mick out of. If you’re the laughing stock, the whole room is laughing at you, not with you, and it’s usually proper public. Works for people, teams, ideas, outfits, anything that’s gone spectacularly wrong. Brutal phrase, honestly, because it makes even a tiny mistake sound like headline news.
"If I fluff this speech, I’ll be the laughing stock of the office. Chill, mate, just read the slides. Says the bloke who once called the boss Mum in a meeting"