dropping a hint?
A. If actually in any doubt, it’s a joke if it’s meant make the other party laugh, a prank if it’s for one’s own amusement at another’s expense. The point has often been advanced that that there is teasing meant in fun that is friendly and by which one is included, and there is also teasing, fun at another’s expense, which is just malicious by which the target is edged out, cold shouldered, driven away, excluded. And the threat of exclusion is also known as peer pressure.
