slapstick

Etymology

It is a compound of slap and stick.^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A device of two flat pieces of wood joined at one end, which made a loud slapping noise when a clown or actor struck someone with it (1896).^{[4][5][1][2][6]}

Semantic evolution

The slapstick was used in farce and pantomime, where the noise was louder than the blow.^[5][2] Through phrases such as slapstick comedy, the word came to mean the whole style of boisterous physical comedy,^[5][2] used as an adjective by 1906^[2][4] and as a noun in this sense by 1916 or 1926.^[2][4][1]

Timeline

• 1896 – the clown's device of two sticks.^{[4][5][1][2][6]}
• 1906 – adjective, of knockabout comedy.^[4][2]
• 1916 – noun, farcical comedy, per Etymonline.^[2]
• 1926 – noun, farcical comedy, per the OED and Barnhart.^[4][1][5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Boisterous comedy based on farce, chases, collisions and practical jokes.
2. A paddle of two flat pieces of wood that makes a loud slap, formerly used by performers in farces.

Adjective

1. Using or marked by broad farce and horseplay.

Word family

• slapsticky

Related words

• horseplay
• farce

References

1. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster