paracosm

From English para- (prefix meaning ‘alongside, beside’) (from Ancient Greek παρα- (para-, prefix meaning ‘beside’)) + English cosm(os) (“universe”) (from Ancient Greek κόσμος (kósmos, “the earth, world; universe”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱems-, *ḱens- (“to put in order”)).

der

Imaginary playmates and paracosms may chiefly represent the vast creative potential of inherently talented people, but in less elaborated forms, they may also represent what childhood imagination can offer to the growing person. Humanity has already benefited from the paracosmic visions of Plato, Thomas More, Aldous Huxley, Thomas Hobbes, Arthur Tappan Wright^([sic – meaning Austin Tappan Wright]) (Islandia), and J. R. R. Tolkien.

1990, Dorothy G. Singer, Jerome L. Singer, “Imaginary Playmates and Imaginary Worlds”, in The House of Make-Believe: Children’s Play and the Developing Imagination, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, →ISBN; paperback edition, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992, →ISBN, page 116:

Occasionally the fantasies of older childhood go well beyond the invention of a pretend friend. In fact, some children, typically at about 9 or 10 years of age, create "paracosms"—entire societies or worlds for the imaginary people to inhabit. [...] How common is it for children to create such elaborate fantasies, and what does the invention of a paracosm say about its creator?

1999, Marjorie Taylor, “Do Older Children and Adults Create Imaginary Companions?”, in Imaginary Companions and the Children Who Create Them, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 136:

As Emily [Brontë] turned in on herself for resources, she created a new paracosm, the Kingdom of Gondal, which she shared with Anne [Brontë]. The paracosm of Gondal became a way of life for the sisters; they shared its secrets for the rest of their lives.

2005, Delmont C. Morrison, Shirley Linden Morrison, Memories of Loss and Dreams of Perfection: Unsuccessful Childhood Grieving and Adult Creativity (Imagery and Human Development Series), Amityville, N.Y.: Baywood Publishing, →ISBN, page 72:

One paracosm in their study was a country called Branmail consisting totally of cats — except for its creator, a six-year-old girl named Holly who had access to the world by scaling a height called Bumpety Banks.

2007, Thomas Armstrong, “Middle Childhood: Entering the Civilized World”, in The Human Odyssey: Navigating the Twelve Stages of Life, New York, N.Y.: Sterling Publishing, →ISBN, page 93:

The children created these inner worlds for a number of reasons, though each paracosm tends to be a long-lasting, heavily structured, and internally consistent.

2010, Sarah Lynne Bowman, “Role-playing as Alteration of Identity”, in The Functions of Role-playing Games: How Participants Create Community, Solve Problems and Explore Identity, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 130:

A detailed imaginary world, especially one created by a child.

exocosm

outside the cosmos, for example parallel universe


triforce

From Japanese トライフォース (toraifōsu), from English tri- + force. First used in the Legend of Zelda video game franchise for a magical artefact in that fictional universe.

A shape composed of three equilateral triangles arranged in such a manner that a fourth triangle of identical size, but pointing the opposite direction, could fit between them.

三角之力

Shape composed of three triangles in a specific alignment


triforce

en-verb

triforce (third-person singular simple present triforces, present participle triforcing, simple past and past participle triforced)

triforces (present singular third-person)
triforcing (participle present)
triforced (participle past)
triforced (past)

(Internet slang) To post three Unicode triangles (▲) arranged in this configuration, especially on 4chan, where doing this correctly was a sign of experience used to weed out newbies.


creepypasta

en-noun

creepypasta (countable and uncountable, plural creepypastas)

→ Polish: creepypasta

→ Spanish: creepypasta

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-creepypasta.wav

After the pattern of copypasta, substituting creepy for copy. Originated from 4chan’s /x/ (paranormal) board sometime around 2007.
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *grewbʰ-der.
Proto-Germanic *kreupaną
Proto-West Germanic *kreupan
Old English crēopan
Middle English crepen
English creep
Proto-Indo-European *-kos
Proto-Germanic *-gaz
Proto-West Germanic *-g
Old English -iġ
Middle English -y
English -y
English creepy
Middle English copien
English copy
Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₁t-der.
Ancient Greek πάσσω (pássō)
Proto-Indo-European *-tós
Ancient Greek -τός (-tós)
Ancient Greek παστός (pastós)
Ancient Greek παστά (pastá)bor.
Late Latin pasta
Old French pastebor.
Middle English paste
English paste
English copy-pasteblend.
Late Latin pasta
Italian pastabor.
English pastablend.
English copypasta
English creepypasta

etymon

The video is part of a growing phenomenon making its way around message boards and e-mail chains called “creepypasta” — bite-sized bits of scariness that have joined the unending list of things-to-do-when-you’re-bored-at-work.

2010 November 14, “Bored at Work? Try Creepypasta, or Web Scares”, in The New York Times, Austin Considine:

The game was born from the familiar 'Slenderman' image, which you may or may not be familiar with from internet memes and creepypasta horror stories.

2012 September 14, Kaz Scattergood, “Spooked by Slender, Fuse (Sheffield Students' Union)”, in magazine, volume 9, number 49, page 2:

"[…] Listen to the nineteen personal creepypasta-style stories to piece together the mysterious events of that fateful night in 1898, when twelve orphans simply… disappeared!"

2013 September 5, “Huntsman: The Orphanage”, in Adventure Lantern, number 46, page 7:

The eerie “Lavender Town” theme has infiltrated the nightmares of an entire generation of children and has even inspired one of the most well known “creepypastas” on the Internet.

2013 November 14, Joey Dussault, “The 10 Best Original Soundtracks In The Gaming World”, in Tastemakers Magazine (Northeastern University), number 33, page 11:

A friend pointed her to Creepypasta, a collection of user-generated horror fan sites in which written, Photoshopped, and videotaped accounts of encounters with monsters and supernatural evil are presented as “real” in the form of encyclopedia entries, testimonials, and other “documentary” evidence.

2015 August 24, Lisa Miller, “Slender Man Is Watching”, in New York Magazine, page 62:

(Internet slang) Frightening urban legends and short stories in the horror genre, circulated on the Internet.


(theater) Initialism of Henry VI, Part 1, by William Shakespeare.


(theater) Initialism of Henry IV, Part 1, by William Shakespeare.


seapunk

en-noun

seapunk (countable and uncountable, plural seapunks)

From sea + -punk; compare earlier cyberpunk, steampunk. Coined by Brooklyn-based DJ Lil Internet, who tweeted about a surreal dream he had in June 2011 ("Seapunk leather jacket with barnacles where the studs used to be"), and later popularized as a Twitter hashtag.

Seapunk's aqueous adherents, mostly in the Midwest but spreading fast […] have been characterized as goth mermaids, which certainly captures the look and feel: think turquoise-dyed hair and an embrace of all things oceanic, yay for steampunk jellyfish outfits.

2012 January 10, Marke B., “Mermaids vs. unicorns”, in San Francisco Bay Guardian:

Many thought this understandably short-lived meme had died a watery death in 2011, but when Rihanna took to Saturday Night Live to perform Diamonds recently, with a full-on seapunk-influenced production, it got a new lease of life.

2012 December 14, Lucy Stehlik, “Seapunk: scenester in-joke or underground art movement?”, in The Guardian:

She also lashed out at Azealia Banks, who dropped an explicitly seapunk video the same week, but Azealia's fine in my books. She’s always been into seapunk stuff, she “came from the internet” unlike Rihanna, she actually commits to and genuinely engages with the seapunk visuals (e.g riding dolphins) and they at least somewhat fit her song and attitude.

2013, Cameron Welch, "That's That Shit I Don't Like: The Year in Wackness", The Phoenix (UBCO), 7 January 2013, page 11 (online version)

(aesthetic, uncountable) A fashion and visual art style, characterized by aquatic themes and colours, rave culture, and the digital aesthetic of the 1990s.

(neologism, countable) A follower of the seapunk style.


drop-scene

‘Well, I found myself seated in a horrid little private box, with a vulgar drop-scene staring me in the face.’

1890, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Vintage, published 2007, page 46:

(now rare) The curtain lowered in a theatre between the acts of a play, to allow for set changes etc.


Russian bar

(circus arts) A gymnastics-style beam held by two porters used to do gymnastics-style tricks.


stageworthy

en-adj

stageworthy (comparative stageworthier or more stageworthy, superlative stageworthiest or most stageworthy)

stageworthier (comparative)
more stageworthy (comparative)
stageworthiest (superlative)
most stageworthy (superlative)

In spite of his parsonical black, and that other well-known clerical disguise, a bad case of Pulpit's Disease, the "king of tears" cuts a more dashing figure than the Rake, and the role is by a long shot the stageworthiest in the opera.

1969, Igor Stravinsky, Robert Craft, Retrospectives and conclusions:

By this we mean each song first must be stageworthy and then must add to the picture of yourself which you are trying to paint for your audience.

1982, John Davidson, Cort Casady, The Singing Entertainer:

(theater) Worthy, fit, or deserving of stage presentation; stageable.


the cake is a lie

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-the cake is a lie.wav

From the 2007 video game Portal, in which a self-aware computer, GLaDOS, lures the player into participating in dangerous experiments with the promise of cake. As the game progresses, the player discovers graffiti left by Doug Rattman, the only known scientist alive since GLaDOS killed all the others with neurotoxin, with the graffiti including the warning "the cake is a lie".

The jokes are cake, and the cake is a lie — fan-service tricking nerds into watching a show designed for adults who vote Republican (Middle America!).

2011 December 15, Nick Martin, “A Hit Sitcom In Just Five Easy Steps!”, in Buzz Weekly, page 6:

The assumption that a degree will vastly improve future earnings is increasingly misleading. By their very nature high paid jobs are exclusive and limited in number. "The cake is a lie."

2012, James Margeson, "The quiet assault on public education", The Sphinx (University of Liverpool), March 2012, page 9

“One shitty leader doesn't mean the cake is a lie. One man's decisions don't invalidate everything else—the ideals, the history, the words etched in marble and the sacrifices of all the people who make the United States a just and safe place to live.”

2012 November 12, J. L. Hilton, Stellarnet Prince, Carina Press, →ISBN, page 320:

(Internet slang) The end being pursued is unattainable or misguided; the reward promised is false.


bed trick

A plot device in traditional literature and theatre where a character begins sexual activity with someone else, then steals away after the lights are off, allowing another character to continue instead.


my body is ready

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-my body is ready.wav

From an impromptu comment made by Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime while volunteering to try the Wii Balance Board during a demonstration of Wii Fit at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2007.

I noticed many innuendos that the general children’s audience may not pick up; “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” with Nala and Simba? I sure did, especially when she gave Simba the “my body is ready” face towards the end of the song.

2011, Phaedra Brady, "Hakuna Matata, what a wonderful flick", The Eye (Palm Harbor University High School), 3 October 2011

My grand idea is to slip the handsome James Dean look-alike in my History class a note that says "My body is ready, do me."

2012, Tanya Paz, "February Goes Down The Shitter", The Union Weekly (California State University, Long Beach), Volume 70, Issue 4, 13 February 2012, page 4

Then I found Trent University. Having heard rumours that it was "the gayest school in Canada", I burned with a newfound resolve – the conviction that this was the time and place where I would finally grow to be more than a straight young white guy. Finally I would go beyond the existence of a one-dimensional character in a pre-1960's middle class novel about the racial majority.
Introductory Seminar Week: my body is ready. This is it. This is when everyone lets loose. I can't let this opportunity slip away… […]

2013, Flavius S. Mercurius, "Coming Out of the Closet: A Story", Arthur (Trent University), Volume 47, Issue 13 (satire edition), 7 January 2013

(chiefly Internet slang) Used to express preparation for and excitement over something, especially sex.

Electronic Entertainment Expo
Wii Balance Board


methexis

(theater) An originally Ancient Greek form of theatre in which the audience participates and improvises.


kill it with fire

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-kill it with fire.wav

Presumably a reference to the trope of using fire to kill a monster in horror, science fiction, and fantasy, with a notable example being the 1982 film The Thing.

'Look at this! IS GAY THE NEW STRAIGHT? Jesus – she's like a one woman crap factory. Kill it! Kill it with fire!'

2005, Anna Clare, Make You a Man, Black Lace, →ISBN, page 14:

But we need to give STL [file format] a headshot. We should kill it. Kill it with fire. Whatever switching costs you may have they will pay for themselves in money saved in storage.

2013 July, Joris Peels, “AMF is no longer only for bowling”, in TCT Magazine, page 15:

For me, the victor is the film adaption, which is a masterpiece of one man's conversion. As for the book? Kill it with fire.

2020 January 16, Patrick Ullmer, “The Stack-Up: 'The Hunter'”, in The Spectrum, North Dakota State University, page 7:

(Internet slang) Used to express fear, disgust, or strong objection in reaction to something.


ermahgerd

From a humorously altered pronunciation of oh my God. Popularized by an image macro meme in 2012, which features the text "ermahgerd, Gersberms" overlaid on a photo of a teenage girl making a silly face and holding several Goosebumps books. The girl in the photo has a visible orthodontic retainer. The pronunciation spelling is intended to mimic the speech of a wearer of this device.

PLUS (please brace yourselves, fangirls) he's coming to play at the Perth Arena in a few months – ermahgerd.

2012 October 24, “Livin' A Teenage Dream”, in X-Press Magazine, number 1341, page 11:

Here's a scary thought: I'm a Canadian citizen over 18 years of age and I have lived in Saskatoon for more than three months and in Saskatchewan for more than six months. What does this mean? I can run for mayor. Ermahgerd!

2012 October 25, Travis Homenuk, “Let's all run for mayor”, in The Sheaf, volume 104, number 8, University of Saskatchewan, page 16:

Is that an Alber Elbaz pink-bubblegum macaron you're eating? Ermahgerd! You are so last year.

2013 March 3, Robert Epstein, “Being Modern: Macarons”, in The Independent:

(slang, humorous or sarcastic) Alternative form of oh my God.


UST

en-noun

UST (countable and uncountable, plural USTs)

Being a hard-core "noromo" (parlance for "no romancer," someone who believes the show's UST, or unresolved sexual tension, is the key to its vitality), I have also flamed "shippers" ("relationshippers," those who want Mulder and Scully to get it on in the film) with now embarrassing vituperations, such as, "Why don't you just go get the lame job you're destined for at the state budget office?"

1998 June 22, John Cloud, “Cinema: An X-Phile Confesses”, in Time:

Fanny has to be wooed with tenderness and humility - cue much UST (Hollywoodese for Unresolved Sexual Tension) as their slow-burn romance creates an incredible chemistry between Russell and Marion.

2006 October 20, Maureen Paton, “Self-made Marion”, in Daily Mail:

Oyelowo is a fashion victim and trots around her new patch in pretty stilettos. She changes her outfit and hair at least four times in each episode and spends a lot of time bickering with her new boss. Oh, did I mention they were an item long ago? Hence all that UST.

2008 June 7, Rosalie Higson, “Light touches add amusement to crime”, in The Australian:

(narratology) Initialism of unresolved sexual tension.


pale rider

A reference to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as the rider of a pale horse is Death.

(idiomatic) Death, the Grim Reaper or angel of death; and one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.


Conquest

The personification of conquest, often depicted riding a white horse.


black rider

A reference to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as the rider of a black horse is Famine.

(idiomatic) Famine, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.


red rider

A reference to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as the rider of a red horse is War.

(idiomatic) War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.


white rider

A reference to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as the rider of a white horse is Conquest/Pestilence.

(idiomatic) Conquest or Pestilence, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Victor Vasnetsov


Famine

(mythology) The personification of famine, often depicted riding a black horse.


War

Through much of the War, Hitler carried his painter's kit, did water colors of War-ruined buildings.

1939 October 30, “Paintings by Adolf Hitler”, in Life, volume 7, number 18, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 52:

Preceded by the: designating a particularly notable war.

(chiefly British, informal) World War II.

The personification of war, often depicted in armour and riding a red horse; the red rider.


bio box

From biograph, as the rooms were originally set aside to provide space for film projectors at theatres.

(theater, Australia) A room, overlooking the theatre from the back, from which projection, lighting and sound are controlled.


Lindmania

enthusiasm for Jenny Lind (Johanna Maria Lind, 1820–1887), Swedish opera singer


memedom

In celebration of all the treasured gems that are internet memedom, a group of Harvard folks are throwing what’s bound to blow up into the the^([sic]) biggest nerdfest outside of a Star Trek Convention.

2007 December 7, Jenna Wortham, “Famous Internet Memes to Gather at ROFLCon 2008”, in Wired:

An inventive joke born of Internet memedom.

2012 March 28, Katherine Boyle, “Peeps Show VI: Power to the Peeps”, in The Washington Post:

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has one of his top aides to thank for uttering the words that would secure his place in memedom.

2012 December 29, Samantha Rollins, “The 11 best memes of 2012”, in The Week:


cheat out

en-verb

cheat out (third-person singular simple present cheats out, present participle cheating out, simple past and past participle cheated out)

cheats out (present singular third-person)
cheating out (participle present)
cheated out (participle past)
cheated out (past)

In stage acting, we are frequently asked to cheat out to the audience by opening up our body positions so that we are something halfway between facing them and our partner.

2015, Robert Barton, Acting: Onstage and Off, page 184:

(theater) To face or turn toward the audience more than would be natural, for instance in a staged conversation.


Pestilence

The personification of pestilence, often depicted riding a white horse.


an hero

Originated as a meme on the /b/ board of the 4chan community. Inspired by a grammatical error in a poem written and posted by a classmate to the MySpace memorial page of a teenager who committed suicide in 2006.

In the clip, Dave Mustaine (our hero of the story, yet not yet "an hero") is shown recording "Through the Darkest Hour" a song about wanting to kill yourself because your bird left you.

2007 August 10, the_boy_blunder [username], “Fiddildy Fucking Dee, it's enough to make you not want to kill yourself”, in alt.suicide.holiday (Usenet):

Some of us were beginning to think you'd made yourself into "an hero" for Christmas, but I always knew you'd be back.

2008 December 24, Alex Clark, “Re: Tom Cruise on Kimmel last night”, in alt.religion.scientology (Usenet):

I like how I can tell someone that I want to become an hero and they have no idea that I'm talking about suicide.

2009 August 22, ., “BECOMING AN HERO”, in alt.suicide.holiday (Usenet):

(Internet slang) A suicidee; one who commits suicide.


Shinigami

/ˌʃɪn.ɪˈɡɑːmi/

(Japanese mythology, Shinto) The deity and/or personification of death. (Compare Izanami and Enma).


Watsonian

en-adj

Watsonian (comparative more Watsonian, superlative most Watsonian)

more Watsonian (comparative)
most Watsonian (superlative)

From Watson + -ian. "In-universe" sense formed in reference to Dr. John Watson, the fictional author within the text of the Sherlock Holmes stories, in contrast to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as the real author of the stories. Started in Sherlock Holmes fandom before spreading to other fandoms. Possibly originating in the "Baker Street Irregulars" fan club and entering the science fiction fandom usage (fanspeak) via the Lois McMaster Bujold mailing list.

I would accept that many of them behave like humans born on earth would, but that must be an artefact of poor translation or our poor understanding of their motives and objectives [Watsonian] or lack of vision on the writers part [Doylist - to borrow some terms from the Bujold mailing list - think 'as written by' Dr Watson or by Arthur Conan Doyle].

2000 October 6, Martin Bonham, “Banks was Re: Multi-culturalism in space?”, in rec.arts.sf.written (Usenet), message-ID <970804830.406747@hermes>:

IIRC, Wells specifically described the choice of Southern England as being as much about "bridgehead" as about "decapitation strike". I think he said something about settling in to the island and building up strength before spreading out to the continent and planet.¶ That's the Watsonian explanation of course, the Doyleist explanation is that he was writing an allegory of white men wiping about the Tasmanians, from the point of view of the Tasmanians. He needed to set it where his English readers would be horrified by the destruction, and the Martian invasion of Korea or Florida or Sri Lanka, or even Ireland, wouldn't have had as much of an impact.

2005 May 30, Del Cotter, “Re: The past as a foreign country”, in rec.arts.sf.written (Usenet), message-ID <oZTd7a9563mCFw2X@branta.demon.co.uk>:

While fans recognize and do engage in Doylist readings, they tend to find Watsonian readings more engaging. Fan fiction writers in particular engage with the text intradiegetically.

2012, Laurie Cubbison, “Russell T Davies, 'Nine Hysterical Women,' and the Death of Ianto Jones”, in New Media Literacies and Participatory Popular Culture Across Borders, →ISBN:

I think the best Watsonian explanation is that shopkeepers aren't quite right in the head. They know that most players intend to rob them blind, but don't understand how the successful ones are doing it.

2014 March 28, Michael Deutschmann, “Re: WhichDevTeam-enabled actions seem like cheating to you?”, in rec.games.roguelike.nethack (Usenet), message-ID <%gcXNTpsfY@bagheera.talosis.ca>:

(fandom slang, narratology) From an in-universe perspective; of or relating to an explanation within the text; internal to the narrative.


crosslight

en-noun

crosslight (usually uncountable, plural crosslights)

Again, the crosslight is best designed to angle slightly upstage taking care not to produce shadows on backings.

1967, Jerry J. Lewis, An Approach to Lighting Design from Modern Dance, page 11:

Quick buffo comedy requires the clarity of the straight play, while sustained romantic anguish flourishes in atmospheric backlights and crosslight.

2013, Francis Reid, Stage Lighting Handbook, →ISBN, page 154:

(uncountable, theater) Illumination directed at the performers or subject matter from opposite sides of the set.


Moros

From Ancient Greek Μόρος (Móros), from Ancient Greek μόρος (móros, literally “fate, doom”).

uder

(Greek mythology) The personification of impending doom, who drives mortals to their deadly fate


wheel of death

(circus) A hollow wheel larger than a person, attached to and suspended from an axle, and inside of which an artist performs.

rueda de la muerte

large hollow wheel inside which an artist performs


splatstick

(film, comedy, horror, gore) A genre of film which blends slapstick style comedy with splatfest blood and gore splatter filled horror.


Santa Muerte

Unadapted borrowing from Spanish Santa Muerte (literally “Holy Death”).

ubor

A female folk saint venerated primarily in Mexico and among Mexican-Americans in the United States. A personification of death, also associated with healing, protection, and safe delivery to the afterlife.


xiangsheng

/ˈʃ(i)ɑŋ.ʃʌŋ/

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 相聲／相声 (xiàngsheng).

A traditional style of Chinese comedy, performed in rapid style.


Brother Jonathan

Said to have originated from George Washington referring to the patriotic Jonathan Trumbull, governor of Connecticut, by this name.

The personification and emblem of New England. He is also an allegory of capitalism and transcendent aspirations, and, in the past, has occasionally been the national personification of the entire United States.


Johnny Crapaud

"I say, you fellows, Johnny Crapaud says he can play cricket!” exclaimed Crow one morning. “What fun!”

1887 July 5, Henry Frith, “Our Cricket-Match at Sandilands”, in The Boy's Own Paper, number 101, Canadian reprint of volume 9, number 438 (June 4, 1887), Toronto: Warwick & Sons, page 579:

The French were very sore about the unceremonious manner in which the Dual Control was dispensed with. Their simple statesmen seemed to think that we, who had complacently picked the chestnuts out of the fire, were going to share them. Earl Granville, in kindness of heart, offered Johnny Crapaud a consolation sop in the form of the Presidency of the Public Debt Department, which was sulkily refused, and Johnny Crapaud retired to his tent, thence to cause us petty annoyances whenever he could.

1901, Edward Vizetelly, “Cairo After the Occupation”, in From Cyprus to Zanzibar, by the Egyptian Delta, page 231:

(offensive, derogatory, ethnic slur) A Frenchman.


human cannonball

en-noun

human cannonball (plural human cannonballs)

A circus performer who is launched from a specially designed cannon.


John Chinaman

John Chinaman is playing the devil with us shipmasters of the English nation.

1840 March 25, The Colonist, Sydney, page 2, column 1:

The simple cup of tea, and frugal meal of rice and salt fish, are the principal factors to " John Chinaman's " success wherever he goes.

1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 234:

My head was full of stories about John Chinaman: opium, slavery, how they ate the hands of Christian babies.

1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 193:

(now offensive) A Chinese man; the Chinese people generally.


jump scare

They'd do something horrible, maybe kill off a few protagonists, and then make people sit around waiting for the next terrible thing to come along. They called it “setting up a jump scare.”

2011, Mira Grant, Deadline, Orbit, published 2011, →ISBN:

Drag Me to Hell capitalizes on the jump scare, scattering it liberally throughout the film to the point where it becomes almost numbing.

2011, John Rosenberg, The Healthy Edit: Creative Techniques for Perfecting Your Movie, Focal Press, →ISBN, pages 80–81:

This quiet is broken suddenly with an initial jump scare of the puppet's iconic laughter.

2013, Jeffrey Bullins, “Hearing the Game: Sound Design”, in James Aston, editor, To See the Saw Movies: Essays on Torture Porn and Post-9/11 Horror, McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 188:

(narratology) The technique, typically used in horror films and video games, of having something occur suddenly and without warning to frighten the audience.

säikäytys

a technique to suddenly scare the audience


mytheme

From myth + -eme, popularized by Claude Lévi-Strauss.


bibbidi-bobbidi-boo

Originated in the 1948 novelty song “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo”, used in the 1950 film Cinderella.

(informal) A light-hearted magical incantation.

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo
Cinderella (1950 film)


dogecoin

dogecoin (countable and uncountable, plural dogecoins)

/ˈdəʊd͡ʒkɔɪn/

The success of ransomware could be attributed to wide adoption of digital currencies or crypto currencies, such as bitcoin, litecoin ukash, dogecoin, ripple and monero, among others.

2017 August 19, Roderick Abad, “Slow Internet speed helping PHL fend off cyber felons”, in Business Mirror:

The net worth of Markus and Palmer is unknown due to their tendency to stay off social media and online platforms. However, dogecoin was estimated to be worth almost $17billion as of April 14, 2021.

2021 April 16, Jacob Bentley-York, “Who are Dogecoin founders Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer?”, in The US Sun, retrieved 2021-04-28:

(uncountable, cryptocurrencies) A cryptocurrency featuring the Shiba Inu from the "doge" meme as its logo.


K-drama

K-drama (countable and uncountable, plural K-dramas)

(uncountable) Dramatic television series produced in South Korea.


omnibus box

You and he yawn together out of the same omnibus-box every night; you fancy yourselves men of pleasure; you fancy yourselves men of fashion; you fancy yourselves men of taste

1856, William Makepeace Thackeray, Novels by Eminent Hands: And Character Sketches:

(UK, dated) A large box in a theatre, level with the stage and having communication with it.


opera seria

opera seria (countable and uncountable, plural opere serie)


conworld

From constructed world; equivalent to con- (“constructed”) + world.

However, you will have created a pile of crossword puzzles you'll be proud to submit to Will Shortz, or a conworld that's so rich and real the inhabitants have actually attained sapience and now worship you as their god.

2007, Ron Hale-Evans, Marty Hale-Evans, Mindhacker: 60 Tips, Tricks, and Games to Take Your Mind to the Next Level, Wiley Publishing, published 2011, →ISBN:

The most respected languages in the conlang community often have years of work behind them, and may even be attached to whole "conworlds" or "concultures" that help give them coherence and a model "literature."

2009, Arika Okrent, In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and the Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build A Perfect Language, Spiegel & Grau, published 2009, →ISBN, page 287:

[…] in my conworld Almea the great navigators of southern Ereláe were the Jei, and undoubtedly Jei-based pidgins sprung up.

2012, Mark Rosenfelder, Advanced Language Construction, →ISBN, page 78:

An imaginary world, especially one with highly-detailed cultures, languages, and geography.


dress circle

Formal dress clothing was generally worn in this gallery.

This concerned complaints arising under the Civil Rights Act of 1875 by blacks denied hotel accommodations in Kansas and Missouri, excluded from the ladies' car of a train in Tennessee, and barred from the dress circle of a theater in San Francisco and from the Grand Opera House of New York City.

2019, Eric Foner, The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution:

A gallery in a theater, generally the one containing the prominent and more expensive seats.


walking gentleman

walking gentleman (plural walking gentlemen)

(theater, slang, dated) A male actor who usually fills subordinate parts which require a gentlemanly appearance but few words.


musical theater

A genre of theater that combines spoken dialogue with song and dance.


legitimate theater

legitimate theater (countable and uncountable, plural legitimate theaters)

A reference to the British Licensing Act 1737

[while watching "Planet of the Apes", the musical] I love legitimate theater

1996, Jack Barth, “A Fish Called Selma”, in The Simpsons, spoken by Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta):

(uncountable) Serious drama, as opposed to farce or musical theater.

(countable) A theater that performs serious dramas.

legitimate theatre

standard spelling in all English-speaking countries except the USA


in two

(theater) Performed further back than "in one", but still not fully upstage.


toi, toi, toi

/tɔɪ tɔɪ tɔɪ/

From German toi, toi, toi, which see for more.

good luck

considered to bring misfortune if used in the theatre

(theater, opera) A superstitious expression of encouragement prior to a performance.


flyperson

(theater) Someone who operates a fly system in a theatre.


word-perfect

en-adj

word-perfect (comparative more word-perfect, superlative most word-perfect)

more word-perfect (comparative)
most word-perfect (superlative)

The oldest actor in the company was word-perfect before any other actor and speaking at twice the rate and getting laughs from his fellow actors, the younger actors, in rehearsal!

1992, Mary Zenet Maher, Modern Hamlets and Their Soliloquies, page 67:

(UK, theater) Having memorized one's lines perfectly.


Ringhead

And Ringheads aren't the only ones who are drawn to Wagner: only Hitler and Shakespeare have attracted so many biographers, analysts and apologists.

2005 August 7, Melinda Bargreen, “Ringheads have fiery devotion”, in The Seattle Times:

Ringheads, also known as Wagnolaters, often travel the world to hear the cycle, reserving special devotion for Bayreuth, Germany, where Wagner’s own theater stands.

2008 April 10, Daniel J. Wakin, “‘Ring’ Fans and the Met Lock Horns Over Ticket Rule”, in The New York Times:

Sherwin Sloan retired early as an ophthalmologist to pursue an obsession that bestowed another title — leader of the "Ringheads," a nickname for fans of Richard Wagner's four-opera cycle known as "The Ring."

2010 June 5, Valerie J. Nelson, “Wagner fan led 'Ringheads'”, in Chicago Tribune:

(slang) A fan of the opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner.


Ringnut

From ring + nut, by analogy with wingnut.

27. Sit next to a ringnut and ask "so what's the deal with the ring?" every time it comes on the screen

2003 December 22, toto, “Fun for non-Tolkien fans (was Re: DON'T PUT SPOILERS IN SUBJECT LINES)”, in misc.kids (Usenet):

And to borrow a LotR reference for a moment -- and forgive me, 'cause I'm just a casual fan of the LotR movies, not a Ringnut -- Emily is Bilbo to Lorelai's Frodo and Rory's Sam.

2004 March 18, Rob Jensen, “Re: Yesterday episode”, in alt.tv.gilmore-girls (Usenet):

And I'm sure I'll get plenty of hate mail for single-handedly declaring all Ringnuts and Jackson fanboys are losers when I'm the guy spending time writing a review to post on the Internet, but hey, I never said I wasn't a hypocrite.

2006 August 26, webmaster@themovieaddict.com, “Retrospective: Dead Alive (1992)”, in rec.arts.movies.reviews (Usenet):

(slang, humorous or derogatory) A fan of the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien and/or the film trilogy based on it.


Wagnerite

Coordinate term: Wagnerism

The magic and charm of Bayreuth will never vanish. It is an experience every music lover in general and every Wagnerite in particular owes to himself at least once in a lifetime.

1999 August 23, Michael Ajzenstadt, “Bayreuth's magic endures”, in The Jerusalem Post:

As always, this year's 30 performances were sold out well before curtain time, with nearly 60,000 Wagnerites paying hundreds of euros for the best tickets.

2005 July 31, George Jahn, “Wagner festival attracts stars and opera lovers”, in Deseret News:

Herrmann, like many Wagnerites, started listening to opera as a youngster: "My father played the old 78 rpm recordings for me, and had me read the Edda [Old Norse sagas, one of Wagner's major sources for his 'Ring']."

An admirer of the German composer Richard Wagner or his work.


marlock

(Australia) Any of various small eucalypts of southwest Australia.


shitcom

I can only hope that someone up there at Fox has enough intelligence to yank this shitcom before mid-season, but given their track record it will probably become their next flagship show.

2006, Alexander Kern, Listen! Listen, Listen, Listen, Listen, Listen!!!: Selected Essays from the Best Blog No One Is Reading, →ISBN, page 203:

Games World was revamped for a second series, and a character from the competition night, Big Boy Barry, was given his own show, a sitcom. Or as it turned out, a shitcom.

2012, David Walliams, Camp David, Penguin, published 2013, →ISBN:

Ed opened the drapes and the sun revealed the grim scene, the filthy drool-stained pillow on the couch where he'd been sleeping, the TV blaring some horrible shitcom ever since he'd left the dial turned to any old thing, the dog food bag left open in the kitchen so Harry could help himself.

2013, Brad Vance, A Little Too Broken, →ISBN:

(slang, vulgar, derogatory) A low-quality or unfunny sitcom.


play of words

1683, William Atwood, Three Letters to Dr. Sherlock Concerning Church-communion, Jonathan Robinson, page 16,
Great is Diana of the Epheſians, and great is the uſe of the word Church, when good Crafts-maſters have the handling of it; and of all Men thoſe of Rome have ſucceeded beſt at this play of words.

1988, Span, Issue 26, University of Queensland, page 104,
At the outset the reader is fascinated by the complex surface play of words. In the poem 'Paraphrase' the play of words is likened to the play of imagery on the surface of a lake; words 'beckon' and 'whisper', luring the reader towards an undisclosed meaning or goal.

The components of that analysis will be: characterization of a main figure in the narrative, the use of time and the patterning play of words.

2000, John A. Beck, Translators as Storytellers, Peter Lang, page 81:

2000, Stephanie Quinn, Why Vergil?, Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, page 3,
In addition, the selections are organized to make a case for the value of the play of words and for their power, about ideas and history, and art.

(narratology, rhetoric) The ordering of words in a text, speech, etc., taking regard for both the individual words (their meanings, sounds, etc.) and the interplay between them.


queerbaiting

Queerbaiting is erasure. It’s telling queer people that they don’t exist, or that our stories aren’t worth telling, and it’s harmful.

2013 October 7, Matthew Ellison, “Queerbaiting”, in Salient, volume 76, number 23, Victoria University of Wellington, page 39:

Some feel that fan pressure to emphasize Buffy and Spike’s relationship spoiled the last few seasons of Joss Whedon’s show, and many fans were alienated by Teen Wolf’s recent queer-baiting.

2013 November 20, Mollie Forman, “Eat the executive”, in Post, Brown University:

Criticism of queerbaiting also does not imply that creators need to be dictated to by fans on how to run their show; […]

2014 June 29, Maneesha Dullewe, “A brief guide to queerbaiting”, in Ceylon Today:

And as a much better NYT comment piece on queerbaiting put it last year: “As self-serving as some celebrity caginess can be, you can’t build a world in which everyone feels free to self-identify by ordering everyone to self-identify.”

2024 January 10, Laura Snapes, “Taylor Swift’s people shut down speculation about her sexuality – but risked rebuking her LGBTQ fans”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(LGBT, fandom slang) The practice of creating homoerotic tension between two characters in a narrative work (particularly a television series) without the intention of ever developing it into an actual same-sex relationship or explicitly addressing the question of either character's sexuality.


assistant stage manager

en-noun

assistant stage manager (plural assistant stage managers)

(theater) A backstage worker whose main responsibility is the maintenance and supply of props.


Polandball

Compound of Poland + ball, coined circa 2009.

One comic, in which Poland flies into space and stops Russia using Crimea as a means of ramming the United States, has shot to the top of the charts in the Polandball sub-forum on Reddit.

2014 March 4, Emmet Ryan, “Polandball is Reddit's answer to Crimea crisis”, in The Daily Business Post, Businesspost.ie, retrieved 2014-11-01:

This Polandball comic sums it up better.

2014 September 11, Arunabh Saikia, “Why Some Calamities Are More Equal Than Others”, in The Newslaundry:

2014, "Mexicoball", The Polandball Book, →ISBN:

It’s also gotten attention from the Polish media. Gazeta Wyborcza reported on it (po polsku), and, on Culture.pl, Wojciech Oleksiak wrote an in-depth English analysis, including a presumably tongue-in-cheek guide to drawing a Polandball.

2015 May 2, Steven Hoffman, “How Polandball can of taking over internets”, in Krakow Post:

international relations
international relations

A user-generated internet meme, where countries are presented as spherical personas (countryballs) that interact in often broken English, poking fun at national stereotypes and international relations; an individual spherical persona from this.


Old Man Winter

[…] the media like to humanize the weather, to suggest that we’re in some kind of grim battle with Old Man Winter when it’s cold or snowy […]

2001, Sara Foss, The Daily Gazette: Speaking of the weather:

It is interesting how we personalize or humanize certain forces which we cannot control like "Mother Nature" and "Old Man Winter".

2002, Robert H. Claxton, Claxton on Williams and Duedall, Florida Hurricanes and Tropical Storms, 1871-2001:

They also have humanized time and weather, with such references as "Father Time" and "Old Man Winter", "Mother Earth" and "Hurricane Floyd".

2003, Scotland Miles, Don't Take Me To Your Leader, →ISBN, pages 28–29:

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press


bhavai

From Gujarati ભવાઇ (bhavāi), perhaps from Sanskrit भाव (bhāva, “expression, emotion”).

der

In the courtyard of the Ambaji temple near Mount Abu the Navaratri festival is celebrated with Bhavai performances.

1992, Manohar Laxman Varadpande, History of Indian Theatre, volume 2, page 174:

She was not in the Princess' hair all the time nor did she watch her like a comic spy in a high drama of intrigue and discovery from a bhavai.

1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 75:

By introducing “literary drama,” Westernized theatre on the subcontinent also led to a rejection of such popular forms as the jatra of Bengal, the bhavai of Gujarat, and the tamasha of Maharashtra as “debased” and “corrupt.”

2009, Aparna Bhargava Dharwadker, Theatres of Independence, page 135:

(India) A type of folk theatre from Gujarat.


HoYay

From a contraction of "homoeroticism, yay!", after a thread so named on the forum Television Without Pity.

This should really help the HoYay! quotient on BtVS, which was largely lacking in S5, Willow and Tara notwithstanding (it's not as much fun if it's *text*).

2001 June 28, Mike Zeares, “Re: New writer joins BUFFY staff”, in alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer (Usenet):

Tangentially, speaking of HoYay! movies, the local movie reviewer here said about "The Count of Monte Cristo" that he's seen less homoerotic subtext in a Village People video.

2002 January 26, Shadowy Moon [username], “Re: Religious groups praise "Lord Of The Rings"”, in alt.gossip.celebrities (Usenet):

Considering fans' previous seemingly blanket endorsement of everything queer, one has to ask why HoYay! fans don't favor the queer Lex/Lana/Clark triangle.

2008, Melanie E. S. Kohnen, “The Adventures of a Repressed Farm Boy and the Billionaire Who Loves Him: Queer Spectatorship in Smallville Fandom”, in Sharon Marie Ross, Louisa Ellen Stein, editors, Teen Television: Essays on Programming and Fandom, McFarland & Company, →ISBN, pages 214–215:

(fandom slang) Homoerotic subtext in a television show, film, book etc.


secondary world

en-noun

secondary world (plural secondary worlds)

Coined by J. R. R. Tolkien in his 1947 essay "On Fairy-Stories".

What really happens is that the story-maker proves a successful 'sub-creator'. He makes a Secondary World which your mind can enter. Inside it, what he relates is 'true': it accords with the laws of that world. You therefore believe it, while you are, as it were, inside. The moment disbelief arises, the spell is broken; the magic, or rather art, has failed. You are then out in the Primary World again, looking at the little abortive Secondary World from outside.

1947, J.R.R. Tolkien, “On Fairy-Stories”, in Essays Presented to Charles Williams, page 60:

From beginning to end of the fiction we are in the secondary world.

1982, Frederick M. Burelbach, “An Introduction to Naming in the Literature of Fantasy”, in Literary Onomastics Studies, volume 9, number 11, archived from the original on 2021-05-16, page 133:

The girls stress the internal logic of the Secondary World as the crucial point for fantasy pleasure. Mastering the elaborate structure of the Secondary World is part and parcel of the reader's quest to experience a text such as Harry Potter, although the central hero would identify the text as masculine.

2004, Holly Virginia Blackford, “It's Like a Fantasy World”, in Out of this World: Why Literature Matters to Girls, Teachers College Press, →ISBN, page 48:

The world to which the protagonist belongs is the 'primary' or 'domestic' world. The secondary world is often a binary opposite of the primary world; an inverse, or mirror-image of the consensual reality of the text.

2012, Jane Suzanne Carroll, “The Sanctuary Topos”, in Landscape in Children's Literature, Routledge, →ISBN, page 26:

(fantasy) An internally consistent, fictional, fantasy world or setting that is different from the real "primary world".


primary world

Now, this secondary world can be made to stand entirely on its own, so that there is no primary world in the fiction and the only reference points to the real world are those the reader brings with him or forges for himself. This is generally the case with what is commonly called "high" fantasy, such as J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

1982, Frederick M. Burelbach, “An Introduction to Naming in the Literature of Fantasy”, in Literary Onomastics Studies, volume 9, number 11, archived from the original on 2021-05-16, page 132:

Fantasy fiction has been categorized and described in different ways. One classification divides fantasy into two major types:¶ low fantasy, which takes place in the primary world (our world);¶ high fantasy, which takes place in alternative worlds.

2008, Nikki Gamble, Sally Yates, “Fantasy and Realism”, in Exploring Children's Literature, →ISBN, page 120:

(fantasy) The real world of the reader or viewer, as opposed to the imaginary "secondary world" of a work of fiction.


Three Stooges

(idiomatic) A group of three stupid people.


the show must go on

Originated in the 19th-century circus industry.

Two other very personal issues that Holly discloses are her ongoing struggle to maintain a weight she feels comfortable with, and her virtual breakdown from exhaustion in 1984. Her "the show must go on" martyrdom attitude was painful to read, for her stress-related problems demonstrate the irony that idealistic activists often live exactly the overworked, underpaid life they are hoping to end for everyone.

1990 December 9, Maida Tilchen, “Closer To Near”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 21, page 14:

(literally, theater) Regardless of what happens, whatever show has been planned still has to be staged for the waiting patrons.


humourful

en-adj

humourful (comparative more humourful, superlative most humourful)

more humourful (comparative)
most humourful (superlative)


extradiegetic

extradiegetic (comparative more extradiegetic, superlative most extradiegetic)

more extradiegetic (comparative)
most extradiegetic (superlative)

This voice-over functions very differently from the extradiegetic narrator of the radio soap opera however, who tended to impose ideological coherence on the text, as well as serve as spokesman for the products being sold.

2011, Harry M. Benshoff, Dark Shadows, Wayne State University Press, published 2011, →ISBN, page 38:

However, in this sequence Colleen's actions alone do not make her horrific. Rather, the extradiegetic music condemns her.

2011, Alison Peirse, “Horrible Women: Abjection, Gender and Ageing in Nip/Tuck”, in Roz Kaveney, Jennifer Stoy, editors, Nip/Tuck: Television That Gets Under Your Skin, I. B. Tauris & Co. Ltd, →ISBN, page 76:

Instead, an extradiegetic narrator renders detached testimony of the hero's traumatic story in the Thatcher era.

2011, José M. Yebra, “A Terrible Beauty: Ethics, Aesthetics, and the Trauma of Gayness in Alan Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty”, in Susana Onega, Jean-Michel Ganteau, editors, Ethics and Trauma in Contemporary British Fiction, Rodopi, →ISBN, page 183:


intradiegetic

intradiegetic (comparative more intradiegetic, superlative most intradiegetic)

more intradiegetic (comparative)
most intradiegetic (superlative)

One of the most famous examples of an intradiegetic narrator is Scherezade, the narrator of the tales in Arabian Nights (1954), who does belong in the general narrative frame despite that not involving her own but other people's stories.

2010, Nina Nørgaard, Beatrix Busse, & Rocío Montoro, Key Terms in Stylistics, Continuum, published 2010, →ISBN, page 125:

Intradiegetic music continues to be used to very stirring effect throughout the film, especially a solo performance of the sixties folk hymn “Five Hundred Miles” sung by Croxen's daughter, […]

2011, Thomas Waugh, The Right to Play Oneself: Looking Back on Documentary Film, University of Minnesota Press, published 2011, →ISBN, page 169:

One well-known example of an intradiegetic narrator is Marlow in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, who recounts his African adventures to a group of men aboard a ship anchored in the Thames Estuary.

2014, Susanne Klinger, Translation and Linguistic Hybridity: Constructing World-View, Routledge, published 2014, →ISBN:


Doylist

Doylist (comparative more Doylist, superlative most Doylist)

more Doylist (comparative)
most Doylist (superlative)

From Doyle + -ist, with reference to Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories.
Adjective formed by analogy to Doyle as the real author of the text, as opposed to Dr. John Watson as the fictional author within the text. Started in Sherlock Holmes fandom before spreading to other fandoms. Possibly originating in the "Baker Street Irregulars" fan club and entering the science fiction fandom usage (fanspeak) via the Lois McMaster Bujold mailing list.

I would accept that many of them behave like humans born on earth would, but that must be an artefact of poor translation or our poor understanding of their motives and objectives [Watsonian] or lack of vision on the writers part [Doylist - to borrow some terms from the Bujold mailing list - think 'as written by' Dr Watson or by Arthur Conan Doyle].

2000 October 6, Martin Bonham, “Banks was Re: Multi-culturalism in space?”, in rec.arts.sf.written (Usenet), message-ID <970804830.406747@hermes>:

Roddenberry's official explaination^([sic]) was "They always looked like that. We just didn't have the budjet^([sic]) in the 1960's to show them properly."¶ This is one case where I prefer the Doylist explaination^([sic]).

2001 September 30, Rob Wynne, “Re: OK, Enterprise...”, in rec.music.filk (Usenet), message-ID <74Jt7.875$oL3.24397@eagle.america.net>:

While fans recognize and do engage in Doylist readings, they tend to find Watsonian readings more engaging. Fan fiction writers in particular engage with the text intradiegetically.

2012, Laurie Cubbison, “Russell T Davies, 'Nine Hysterical Women,' and the Death of Ianto Jones”, in New Media Literacies and Participatory Popular Culture Across Borders, →ISBN:

(fandom slang, narratology) From a real-world perspective; of or relating to an explanation outside the text; external to the narrative.


vardzak

(historical) a female comedy actor, dancer and singer in ancient and medieval Armenia


metadiegetic

metadiegetic (comparative more metadiegetic, superlative most metadiegetic)

more metadiegetic (comparative)
most metadiegetic (superlative)

A particularly striking example appears in Hawthorne's next romance, The House of the Seven Gables, in which Chapter 13 consists entirely of a metadiegetic narrative entitled "Alice Pyncheon," composed and read by the diegetic character Holgrave.

1995, Michael Dunne, Hawthorne’s Narrative Strategies, page 87:

The diegetic and metadiegetic aspects of the Joker's use of music also persist. Prince's "Trust" features diegetically in the festival parade as the Joker rides on his birthday-cake float, while the Straussian waltz reappears metadiegetically in the in the cue "Waltz," for the battle between Batman and the Joker's henchman as the Joker waltzes with a semiconscious Vicki in the background. This, and his comment, "shall we dance?" to Batman just before the cue starts again positions this as music that the Joker has control cover: it is more than simply heard in his head.

2004, Janet K. Halfyard, Danny Elfman's Batman: A Film Score Guide, page 108:

Sound effects are often enlisted to externalize a characters' inner thoughts, nightmares, hallucinations, dreams, or wishes. We might hear, for example, the laughter of a child as a woman picks up a doll from childhood. This gives the scene a surreal feeling. This effect is often called meta-diegetic.

2005, Jennifer Van Sijll, “Sound Effects”, in Cinematic Storytelling, →ISBN, page 90:

(narratology) Pertaining to a secondary narrative embedded within the primary narrative (a story within a story).


hypodiegetic

hypodiegetic (comparative more hypodiegetic, superlative most hypodiegetic)

more hypodiegetic (comparative)
most hypodiegetic (superlative)

In Jane Eyre this hypodiegetic level is only attained four times again, first in chapter fifteen, in which Rochester tells Jane about his mistress Celine Varens, second in chapter twenty-seven [...]

1999, Esther Schönberger-Schleicher, Charlotte and Emily Brontë: a narrative analysis of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, →ISBN, page 182:

Gretta's story, by contrast, has all the force of an authentic performance, a spontaneous speech-act that recreates its own referential validity. As such, it is the most coherent and integrated hypodiegetic act of narration in Dubliners.

2004, Gerald Doherty, Dubliners' Dozen, page 132:

Continuing this issue of depth: backgrounds are also used throughout some issues of Sandman, for example in Sandman #6 (“24 Hours”) where they provide mood, or Sandman #3 (“Dream a Little Dream of Me”) where a hypodiegetic dream story underlies the pages (see for example page 22), with the diegetic narrative sequence overlaid.

2014, Julia Round, Gothic in Comics and Graphic Novels, page 71:


parquet circle

Part of the lower floor of a theatre with seats at the rear of the parquet and beneath the galleries.


Auntie Beeb

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, affectionate nickname) The BBC.


fit-up

(theater) A portable stage that can be disassembled and taken from one venue to another.


horse and hattock

From the Scottish folk tradition that this is the cry that fairies make when they leave a place.

...but one of their number being, it seems, a little more bold and confident than his companion, said Horse and hattock with my top!' and immediately they all saw the top lifted up from the ground, but could not see which way it was carried, by reason of a cloud of dust which was raised at the same time.

1835, Fraser's magazine for town and country - Volume 11, page 219:

Archroy had noticed that his old Morris Minor, which his wife described as 'an eyesore', was no longer upon its blocks in the garage but seemed to have cried horse and hattock and been carried away by the fairies.

1992, Robert Rankin, The Antipope, →ISBN, page 18:

The Miscellanies of John Aubrey (1626-97) noted two cases involving the phrase "Horse and Hattock" and fairy levitation.

2001, Lizanne Henderson, Edward J. Cowan, Scottish Fairy Belief: A History, →ISBN, page 37:

A call that invokes the fairies to transport someone or something.


John Q. Law

Now if we cross the path of any John Q. Laws, nobody does a fuckin' thing 'til I do something.

1994, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary, Pulp Fiction, spoken by The Wolf (Harvey Keitel):


MFW

(Internet slang) Initialism of my face when ....


exodos

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἔξοδος (éxodos, “a departure”). Doublet of exodus.

bor

1994, Carlo Ferdinando Russo (author and translator), Aristophanes: An Author for the Stage, [1962, Aristofane autore di teatro], page 173,
The exodos requires three actors, one for the Athenian (thirty iambic trimeters), one for his companion (five iambic trimeters) and one for the Spartan Singer (three iambic trimeters and around forty lyrical lines).

Then scenes alternate with choral songs, till the final exodos ("going-out") of the actors and chorus.

2003, Francis Blessington, The Bacchae; Euripides: The Frogs; Aristophanes, page xix:

Every Greek drama ends with an exodos. It is obligatory that the stage be left empty. It is left by the actors and the chorus.

2006, Olga Freidenberg, Image and Concept, page 271:

Non-speaking Characters
Hermione in prologue and exodos, Pylades in exodos, Electra in exodos, Helen in exodos

2013, Cecelia Eaton Luschnig, editor, The Orestes Plays, page 140:

In this respect, the parodoi and the exodoi of Old Comedy may operate as typical literary sphragis-like pieces; see details in Hordern (2002) 228-9; Calame (2004a); on the exodoi of Aristophanes as signature pieces see Calame (2004b) 182-3.

2013, Sophia Papaioannou, “Chapter One: The Innovator's Poetic Self-Representation”, in Sophia Papaioannou, editor, Terence and Interpretation, footnote, page 27:

(drama, Ancient Greek drama) A final scene or departure in a play, especially a tragedy.


Trololo

Onomatopoeia of how Eduard Khil vocalized "Я очень рад, ведь я, наконец, возвращаюсь домой (Ja očenʹ rad, vedʹ ja, nakonec, vozvraščajusʹ domoj)".

(Internet, neologism, informal) Eduard Khil's vocalized recording of the song "Я очень рад, ведь я, наконец, возвращаюсь домой (Ja očenʹ rad, vedʹ ja, nakonec, vozvraščajusʹ domoj)" and its accompanying music video, which has risen into a meme.


memester

He introduces such colorful and potentially significant groups as the Immediast Underground, Paper Tiger TV, and the merry 'memesters' who have taken the media revolution to the neurons of the worldbrain.

1996, Douglas Rushkoff, quoted on the praise page, in Media Virus!: Hidden Agendas in Popular Culture, Ballantine Books (1996; originally published 1995), unnumbered page

The conflict between the memesters and the creators of the source material ended with the creators throwing up their hands in defeat. It was simply impossible for YouTube to keep the stuff down.

2011, Cole Stryker, Epic Win for Anonymous: How 4chan's Army Conquered the Web, The Overlook Press, →ISBN:

Not all these photo pranks are as simple as planking: In stocking, memesters choose a banal stock photo and try to re-create it as faithfully as possible.

2011 October 30, Erin McKean, “Let’s go owling!”, in The Boston Globe:

A person who creates or enjoys memes, especially Internet ones.


sword swallowing

The act of passing a sword through the mouth and down the esophagus to the stomach, and then removing it.


yuckster

Much less ambitious, Sideshow is in effect the north-side version of Avant-Garfielde, the ad-lib comedy these eight yucksters have created weekly for the last three years at Jimmy's Woodlawn Tap in Hyde Park.

1988 May 20, Lawrence Bommer, “Cardiff Giant's Comedy Sideshow”, in Chicago Reader:

Real yucksters, these Bradford boys.

2008, Harlan Coben, One False Move: A Myron Bolitar Novel, →ISBN, page 130:


Plautus

From Latin Titus Maccius Plautus, the latter two names traditionally held to be stage names, from plautus (“flat-footed, flap-eared”).

A Roman comic playwright (c. 254 – 184 BC) of the Old Latin period.


neknomination

From neck (“to drink very quickly”) + nomination. Originated in Australia and gained popularity on social media.

compound

The controversial Neknomination craze has reportedly led to the death of another young British man, after a rugby player mixed two pints of gin with teabags and said to the camera: “This is how you drink.”

2014 February 16, Adam Withnall, “Neknomination: Craze 'claims fifth victim' as young man found dead after downing two pints of gin”, in Belfast Telegraph:

Ontario Provincial Police laid charges against two young men on Thursday after a ‘neknomination’ video surfaced on social media.

2014 February 27, Paul Clarke, “OPP charge two youth after neknomination video surfaces”, in Toronto Star:

She has lipstick on her chin, a ladder in her tights and looks as though she's spent the afternoon creating Neknomination videos.

2015, Jane Costello, The Love Shack, Simon & Schuster (2015), unnumbered pages, published 23 April 2015

(slang) An online drinking game, typically involving a person uploading a video of themselves drinking a pint of an alcoholic beverage (most commonly beer) in one gulp, then nominating two or more others to do the same.


stage combat

(film, theater) The art of arranging, designing or performing sequences of simulated fighting, especially in theatrical productions.


fight choreography

(film, theater) The art of arranging and designing sequences of staged combats, such as for use in theatre or film productions.


trollface

Compound of troll (“person who provokes others for personal amusement or to cause disruption”) + face.

com+

Geek revelers. This is a very rare antagonism. Maybe it doesn't even exist. But if it exists, Gigablog leaves here a fantasy tip. Carnatroll is a mask with the face of the most famous meme on the internet, the Trollface.

2011 February 28, “‘Troll Face’ mask promises to delight geek partygoers”, in Uol News, Rodrigo Vitulli:

Thanks to the Trollface meme, those with a secret affinity for the hilarious ways of trolling now have a figure to worship.

2011 March 24, “Land of a million memes”, in The Gateway, volume 101, number 42, University of Alberta, page 18:

People took trollface and pasted it into other comics, whenever a character was either being a pest or generally annoying people.

2012, Sean Rockey & Alexander Bevier, "Memes", The Current (Green River Community College), Volume 46, Issue 10, 7 May 2012, page 9

The trollface is a visual representation of what someone might look like when engaging in trolling.

2013, Roger Whitson, Jason Whittaker, William Blake and the Digital Humanities: Collaboration, Participation, and Social Media, Routledge, →ISBN, page 111:

(Internet slang) An illustration of a face with a cartoonishly wide, maniacal grin (from a comic drawn by Carlos Ramirez and originally posted on the 4chan community), typically featured in image macros to convey trolling, mockery, or humorous intent.


spoopy

en-adj

spoopy (comparative more spoopy, superlative most spoopy)

more spoopy (comparative)
most spoopy (superlative)

A photograph of a Halloween sign with the misspelled word “spoopy” (for “spooky”), taken in 2009 and originally uploaded to Flickr, was reposted on Tumblr in 2011, upon which the word become an Internet meme and developed its current sense.

To get into the spoopy spirit, you will exclusively listen to the “Spooky Scary Skeletons” trap remix on repeat from now until Halloween.

2016 October 27, Derek Baker, “Your future is foretold in these spooky horror-scopes”, in The Guantlet, page 17:

It's spoopy season — a time for pumpkin carving, trick or treating and “Hocus Pocus” reruns.

2018 October 24, Amelia Calautti, “Get goosebumps with 'Netflix and Chills'”, in The Rice Thresher, page 8:

Unfortunately, tricks, treats and spoopy shenanigans aren't the only things escalating in the runup to Halloween.

2018 October 29, Sara Serrano, “Where have all the cats gone?”, in The Collegian, page 14:

(Internet slang) Calling upon horror tropes and concepts in cute, nonthreatening or comical ways.


human blockhead

en-noun

human blockhead (plural human blockheads)

A performer who drives a nail or other implement into their nasal cavity, producing the illusion that it is being driven into a solid part of the head.


rustle someone's jimmies

en-verb

rustle someone's jimmies (third-person singular simple present rustles someone's jimmies, present participle rustling someone's jimmies, simple past and past participle rustled someone's jimmies)

rustles someone's jimmies (present singular third-person)
rustling someone's jimmies (participle present)
rustled someone's jimmies (participle past)
rustled someone's jimmies (past)

First attested in 2009 (see Citations:rustle someone's jimmies).

It's not that my wide feet are so irresistibly sexy that no man could keep his hands off them — trust me, they're not — but there's just something about feet that really rustles his jimmies.

2014 March 5, Hamarita Jones, “Fetishes, kinks, and paraphilias, oh my!”, in The Cascade, University of the Fraser Valley, page 13:

Should I try find love with someone who really rustles my jimmies?

2014, "True love Tracey", letter to "Letters To The Ductus Doctor", Ductus (University of Newcastle), Edition 2 (2014), page 37

And what, I'm sure you're asking, rustles the jimmies of a highly discerning [turtle] bachelor such as myself? I'm looking for a delectable woman who is interested in long, painfully slow walks on the beach, being dazzled by my utterly stunning shell, and mercilessly abandoning any children of our union to be devoured by birds while they desperately try to scramble from land to the water immediately after hatching.

2017 February, The Moot Times, University of Calgary, page 3:

(Internet slang) To interest or excite sexually or romantically.


Williamsian

en-adj

Williamsian (comparative more Williamsian, superlative most Williamsian)

more Williamsian (comparative)
most Williamsian (superlative)

Of or relating to Bernard Williams (1929–2003), English moral philosopher.

Of or relating to Tennessee Williams (Thomas Lanier Williams III; 1911–1983), American playwright.


focalizer

(narratology) A character through which the story is told, and whose perspective the story is told from.


memescape

A notional landscape of memes, or units of cultural information.


well-made play

Calque of French pièce bien faite, developed by the French dramatist Eugène Scribe (1791–1861).

Ultimately Ibsen denies the basic philosophy of the well-made play, that there is meaning and progress in time, and that all human beings are rational creatures, subject to the reassuring process of cause and effect.

1983, George Stade, European Writers: The Romantic century, Charles Baudelaire to the well-made play, Scribner, →ISBN:

A play belonging to a 19th-century neoclassical theatrical genre involving a tight plot and a climax close to the end. The story depends upon a key piece of information kept from some characters, and moves forward in a chain of actions that use minor reversals of fortune to create suspense.


followspot

In addition to followspots, there will be three frontlight specials on Autoyokes hung on the truss to provide frontlight specials.

2009, Steven Shelley, A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting, page 132:

(theater) A spotlight that follows a performer as they move around on the stage.


antode

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀντῳδή (antōidḗ), from ᾠδή (ōidḗ).

For instance, in the agon of the Knights beginning at 757 we first (761 ff.) find a katakeleusmos and a debate in anapaestic tetrameters catalectic, while the symmetrical section, after the antode, is in iambic tetrameters catalectic.

1975, Francisco Rodríguez Adrados, Festival, Comedy and Tragedy: The Greek Origins of Theatre:

(historical, Ancient Greece, theater) A particular ode sung in response to another.


authorial intent

en-noun

authorial intent (plural authorial intents)

The intent of an author as encoded in their work.


dank meme

Born too late to explore the Earth; born too soon to explore the galaxy; born just in time to browse dank memes

I should warn you that I could not identify a ‘dank meme’ if the fate of the working class depended on it and that I shall not be ‘shipping’ Lenin and Trotsky. If I tried to speak your marvellous language, I would produce sentences like, […]

2017, Helen Razer, Total Propaganda: Basic Marxist Brainwashing for the Angry and the Young, Allen & Unwin, →ISBN:

(Internet, slang, often ironic) An Internet meme with a humorously tongue-in-cheek tone derived from gaudy or surreal aesthetics.


heyoka

A sacred jester and contrarian in the culture of the Lakota people.


Belly of the Whale

Coined by Joseph Campbell in 1949. Probably an allusion to the book of Jonah in the Bible, in which Jonah was swallowed by a great fish.

A story element which represents the final separation from a hero's known world and self.


over nine thousand

From episode 28 of the anime TV series Dragon Ball Z ("Goku's Arrival", 1997), referring to Goku's increase in power level.

(humorous, Internet slang, idiomatic) off the charts; through the roof (beyond expectations)

List of Dragon Ball Z episodes (season 1)


antijoke

Coordinate term: antiproverb

Thank Christ for Carlton. My secret. My lifeline. The inventor of the antijoke. I kid you not. He postulated a category of things that don't make you laugh which he called the antijoke.

1999, Eric Idle, The Road to Mars, Knopf Doubleday, →ISBN, page 31:

A sentence or story that subverts the expectation of a joke, often by being deliberately unfunny or surreal.


breeches role

(theater) A role in a theatrical production in which an actress appears in male clothing.


shared universe

shared universe (plural shared universes)

A fictional universe encompassing multiple separate works of fiction.


blackout gag

In reference to burlesque and vaudeville, when the lights were quickly turned off after the punchline of a joke to accentuate it and encourage the audience to laugh.

In some cases, Brooks could construct an entire sequence of nothing but blackout gags, as in the prehistoric sequence of History, which depicts the first artist and first critic, the discovery of fire, the invention of music, and so forth.

2015, Henry Jenkins, “Mel Brooks, Vulgar Modernism, and Comic Remediation”, in Andrew Horton, Joanna E. Rapf, editors, A Companion to Film Comedy, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 159:


tragic heroine

(drama) A heroine who suffers from a tragic flaw that eventually causes her downfall; a female tragic hero.


commedia dell'arte

commedia dell'arte (countable and uncountable, plural commedie dell'arte or commedias dell'arte)

commedie dell'arte (plural)
commedias dell'arte (plural)

(theater) An early form of Italian theatre characterised by stock characters in a variety of masks, popular in Europe from the 16th to the 18th century.


tragicomedic

en-adj

tragicomedic (comparative more tragicomedic, superlative most tragicomedic)

more tragicomedic (comparative)
most tragicomedic (superlative)

Both films incorporate tragicomedic elements in their musical production numbers.

Of or pertaining to tragicomedy; both comedic and tragic.


knife thrower

A performer who entertains by demonstrating skill in throwing knives.


Old Frizzle

An ace of spades with a duty tax stamp similar to a banknote.


Uncle Sugar

Blend of Uncle Sam + sugar daddy. Popularized by Mike Huckabee, though not original to him.

“Uncle Sugar provides well for me. Because of Uncle Sugar I have a good education and the opportunity to retire when I'm thirty-five years old."

2004, Shane Russell, Living Hell, page 25:

[An Obama campaign ad] depicted a woman named Julia who from cradle to grave was dependent on all things "government" and could live her life only with the ever-present and all-guiding hand of Uncle Sugar.

2014, Mike Huckabee, God, Guns, Grits and Gravy, page 102:

(chiefly Southern US) A personification of the American welfare state.


burninate

en-verb

burninate (third-person singular simple present burninates, present participle burninating, simple past and past participle burninated)

burninates (present singular third-person)
burninating (participle present)
burninated (participle past)
burninated (past)

Back-formation from Burninator, from the original character Trogdor the Burninator from the Homestar Runner series of web cartoons.

Burninating the countryside! / Burninating the peasants! / Burninating all the people! / In their thatched-roof COTTAGES!!

2003 January 13, Michael Chapman; Matthew Chapman, “Strong Bad Email #58: dragon”, in Homestar Runner, spoken by Strong Bad (Matthew Chapman):

Although the language may not be going to hell in a handbasket — what is a handbasket, anyway? — some of its speakers appear ready to burninate a noob.

2008, Mark Abley, The Prodigal Tongue: Dispatches from the Future of English, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 24:

These wars were often fought by mercenaries' armies who—while going about busily pillaging and “burninating the countryside”—were often more concerned with (a) not dying and (b) looting and carrying off maidens than any particular religious ideals.

2016, Christopher Ben Simpson, Modern Christian Theology, T&T Clark, →ISBN, page 37:

(slang, humorous) To destroy by fire; to burn.


stage-stricken

en-adj

stage-stricken (comparative more stage-stricken, superlative most stage-stricken)

more stage-stricken (comparative)
most stage-stricken (superlative)

[T]hey entertained themselves […] with a recitation by plump little stage-stricken Ensign Puddock, who, in "thpite of hith lithp," gave rather spirited imitations of some of the players—[…]

1863, J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, “Mr. Mervyn in His Inn”, in The House by the Church-yard. […], volume I, London: Tinsley, Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 36:


fifth wall

Bottom does not speak as a fictional figure pretending to be its actor, but, having crossed the fifth wall, as a “real” human being, as himself as Bottom.

2010, J. Limon, The Chemistry of the Theatre: Performativity of Time, →ISBN, page 184:

Presenting Silverstone as the protagonist of the former "Cyrin" clip in the context of the narration of the "Amazing" video also hints at a “sideways metalepsis” (a metalepsis between storyworlds) or the “breaking of the fifth wall” which is supposed to separate the different storyworlds in which one and the same actor/actress plays different roles.

2011, Karin Kukkonen, Sonja Klimek, Metalepsis in Popular Culture, →ISBN, page 119:

When wanting to show intimacy with the audience, one will advance in this direction. It is known in acting as “breaking the fifth wall” and is when actor's may make comments, or assides, sharing their internal process with the audience, as if stepping out of the world created on the stage to join with them on an intimate basis.

2014, Ken Ludden, Academy Method: Introduction to Teacher Training, →ISBN, page 149:

This creates a separation of the three worlds: three because, apart from the 'real' world of the audience and the perceiving minds of individual spectators, the one on the stage is in fact dual in nature, material and fictional, with both spheres divided by the fifth wall.

2014, Bryan Reynolds, Performance Studies: Key Words, Concepts and Theories, →ISBN, page 217:

The fifth wall is a progressively reflexive strategy where an actor in a theatrical performance breaks from the prescribed situational character and role and references her/his personal life or experiences (Genzlinger, 2006),

2016, Marcus Aldredge, Singer-Songwriters and Musical Open Mics, →ISBN, page 142:

(theater) The division between the fictional world depicted, and the actual actors, props, etc.

There's a fifth wall here tonight. And that's the wall between men and women. Which may be the toughest of all to crack.

1996, Albert Ramsdell Gurney, The Fourth Wall, →ISBN, page 48:

Performers still made their entrances from the wings of a stage, the stage of the film studio, only now the fifth wall division between onstage and backstage was replaced by the division between the field of action in front of the camera, recorded as the image within the frame of its lens, and the field of inaction outside its lens, outside its frame of reference.

2009, Paul Matthew St. Pierre, Music Hall Mimesis in British Film, 1895-1960, →ISBN:

Whereas the “fourth wall” is the term generally used to refer to the barrier between audience and actors, the “fifth wall” has sometimes been invoked to describe “that semiporous membrane that stands between individual audience members during a shared experience.

2012, Gillian Silverman, Bodies and Books, →ISBN:

We share the ideas The Living Theater experimented with including involving the public in our performance in the “fourth wall,” an imaginary “wall” at the front of the stage or even the “fifth wall” described by Peter Lichtenfels as “that semi-porous membrane that stands between individual audience members during a shared experience.

2013, Keith McHenry, Hungry for Peace, →ISBN:

(theater) Any of various other divisions between groups of people in the theatre.


jukebox musical

en-noun

jukebox musical (plural jukebox musicals)

7. The jukebox musical ‘We Will Rock You’ was written by which comedian and author?

2014, Collins Quiz Master, HarperCollins UK, →ISBN, page 68:

The book writer for “Once Upon a One More Time,” the Britney Spears jukebox musical opening on Broadway Thursday night, often returns to a memory from five years ago, when Spears sat in a Manhattan theater a few rows in front of him and watched an early reading of the show.

2023 June 21, Julia Jacobs, “A Britney Spears Jukebox Musical Hopes for #SeeBritney Energy”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(theater) A musical consisting predominantly of songs that had been previously released and are well-known to the public, usually with a plot specifically written to accommodate them in the story.


not my circus, not my monkeys

I repeated it like a mantra: Not my circus. Not my monkeys. Except it was my circus. Because, as I lay there, I noticed all my things out of place from the room search. This was my circus. I was stuck with these monkeys.

2015, J. J. Johnson, Believarexic, Open Road Media, →ISBN:

none of my business
none of someone's business

(colloquial) It is not my problem; it's none of my business; indicates that one is not responsible for controlling or changing a volatile or delicate situation.

different clowns, same circus

likewise a circus metaphor emphasizing human folly


abracadabrangle

A representation of the word "abracadabra" in the visual form of a triangle, used as an amulet or charm.


stagedoor

the door used by actors and other professionals when entering or leaving a theatre


Russian reversal

Russian reversal (plural Russian reversals)

Sounds like a Russian Reversal. "In Soviet Japan, life lives YOU!"

2015, TJ Edmister, “Re: Interesting phraseology”, in sci.lang.japan (Usenet):

Decades ago comics like Yakov Smirnoff used to do “Russian Reversal” jokes: “In America you can always find a party! In Soviet Russia, party always finds you.”

2015, Danny Katch, Socialism . . . Seriously: A Brief Guide to Human Liberation, page 35:

Smirnoff's popularity has waned since its high point in the 1980s, but the Russian reversal enjoys a vibrant second act as an internet meme, and it has shaped an image of late Soviet life as harsh and impoverished […]

2016, Choi Chatterjee, Lisa A. Kirschenbaum, Deborah A. Field, Russia's Long Twentieth Century:

A type of joke that reverses the subject and object of an ordinary statement, claiming to describe the situation in Soviet Russia, e.g. "In Soviet Russia, television watches you!"


playworthy

en-adj

playworthy (comparative more playworthy, superlative most playworthy)

more playworthy (comparative)
most playworthy (superlative)


sicknik

What the sickniks dispense is partly social criticism liberally laced with cyanide, partly a Charles Addams kind of jolly ghoulishness, and partly a personal and highly disturbing hostility toward all the world.

1959 July 13, “The Sickniks”, in Time, →ISSN:

observational comedy
observational comedy

(slang, historical) Any of a group of American comedians, first popular in the 1950s, who employed cynicism, satire, and observational comedy rather than inoffensive traditional jokes.


lion tamer

A circus performer who interacts with a lion as an entertainment.

oroszlánszelídítő

circus performer who interacts with a lion (or other big cat) as an entertainment


bee beard

A large number of honey bees depending from a person's face so as to resemble a beard; a common sideshow demonstration.


bed of nails

A piece of wood with nails pointing out of it, on which a performer lies as a circus trick.

szöges ágy

a piece of wood with nails pointing out of it, on which a performer lies as a circus trick


bearded lady

A woman with a beard, often appearing as a circus sideshow


chapeaugraphy

A piece of performance art in which the performer manipulates a piece of fabric into the shapes of various hats.


armless wonder

A person who does not have any arms, and appears as a circus sideshow


motifeme

A basic unit of story, such as a character or a situation, used in the comparative analysis of folktales.


thespianism

en-noun

thespianism (usually uncountable, plural thespianisms)

(theater) Thespian activity or behavior.


timeskip

From time + skip, cf. Japanese 時とばし (toki tobashi).

Akira Toriyama uses a timeskip to rejoin us with Gokū and friends in Dragon Ball Chapter 113, three years after Gokū leaves Uranai Baba's Palace for his global trek.

2016, Derek Padula, Dragon Ball Culture Volume 5: Demons, Derek Padula, →ISBN, page 8:

(fandom slang) An instance of fast-forwarding a substantial amount of time, such as years or decades, as a narrative device in a story, quickly aging characters and developing events.


tiatr

Borrowed from Konkani तियात्र (tiyātra), from Portuguese teatro. Doublet of theater.

The biggest defect in Tiatr is that till now there has not been classification. The definition of tiatrists — the one who writes, directs, composes songs, sings and produces.

2002, Mario Cabral e Sá, Redefining horizons: Goa, four decades of freedom, page 116:

(India) A kind of drama genre of Goa, usually in the Konkani language.


prosopon

From Ancient Greek πρόσωπον (prósōpon, “face, mask, person”).

uder

(historical, Ancient Greek theatre) A mask worn by an actor to indicate the character being played.


green joke

(Philippines) a joke about sex (a dirty joke) or feces; toilet humour


genteel business

(dated, colloquial) theatrical parts that require the actor to be dressed well


love quadrangle

en-noun

love quadrangle (plural love quadrangles)

(rare) A situation in which three people vie for the love of a fourth person.


persona muta

From Latin mūta persōna (“silent character”).

She will be a persona muta, a non-speaking actor. She will thus have in this episode the function that her father had during the preceding stasimon, except that she will act. And since she will act, she, that is, the movement of her body in the stage space, […]

1996, Lowell Edmunds, Theatrical Space and Historical Place in Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 69:

(theater) A nonspeaking role, a silent actor.


milkshake duck

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-milkshake duck.wav

From a Twitter post by Ben Ward (pixelatedboat) on June 12th, 2016: "The whole internet loves Milkshake Duck, a lovely duck that drinks milkshakes! *5 seconds later* We regret to inform you the duck is racist".

(Internet slang) Someone or something, especially on social media, that is widely considered to be endearing, but is then discovered to be or have done something deeply flawed or distasteful.


ground-plan

Complex shows may require more than one ground-plan; one for each set-change is common.

Alternative form of groundplan
(theater) A diagram showing set layout.

Alternative form of groundplan
A diagram showing set layout.


ground plan

You will need the ground plan of the set, a scale rule, a fifty-foot tape measure, a shorter tape measure, spike tape, chalk, chalk line, and pencils.

1992, Daniel Ionazzi, The Stage Management Handbook, →ISBN, page 47:


groundplan

In some cases, coordination between the lighting and scene designer may result in a preliminary scenic groundplan that indicates not only all of the scenic and masking information, but temporary lighting positions as well.

2013, Steven Louis Shelley, A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting, →ISBN:

You must learn to be ingenious in arranging groundplans. Always avoid the dull and trite—what may be called the no-room: that bare, three-walled room without architectural jogs for relief; that room with a routine selection and placement of furniture; that room with doors placed in balanced positions in the walls. New ideas about illustrating the action will present themselves to both you and the actors if you think and feel freshly about what makes up a groundplan.

2015, Francis Hodge, Michael McLain, Play Directing: Analysis, Communication, and Style, →ISBN, page 78:

It is also a tool for communication, both to your actors and your audience, because the way in which the groundplan shapes the space reveals much about the how the director and designers view the possible uses of the space, its owner(s), and its purpose. The groundplan provides you with the opportunity to create a variety of physical relationships among the characters onstage and shapes the possible patterns of movement that the characters might follow during the action.

2015, Robert Knopf, The Director as Collaborator, →ISBN, page 62:

Another method of recording blocking is to use a groundplan and numbered movements tracking sheet (see Figure 8.3).

2016, Emily Roth, Jonathan Allender-Zivic, Katy McGlaughlin, Stage Management Basics: A Primer for Performing Arts Stage Managers, →ISBN:

(theater) A diagram showing the physical layout of a set, especially the placement of structures on the stage, as opposed to items on the walls or suspended from the ceiling.


walking lady

(theater, slang, dated) A female actor who usually fills subordinate parts which require a ladylike appearance but few words.


hey pass

(obsolete) A conjurer's exclamation on performing a magic trick; hey presto.


love rectangle

But the breakup and awkward love rectangle were a recurring topic in Google's gossip mill, adding even more tension.

2022, Mark Bergen, Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube’s Chaotic Rise to World Domination, Penguin, →ISBN:


pourquoi story

pourquoi story (plural pourquoi stories)

(narratology) A fictional narrative that explains why something is the way it is.


origin story

More unsettling was the origin story of the infamous tell-all book Princess in Love. Diana claimed to be outraged in 1994 when Daily Express journalist Anna Pasternak spilled the beans of her affair with former army officer James Hewitt[…]

2022 April 5, Tina Brown, “How Princess Diana’s Dance With the Media Impacted William and Harry”, in Vanity Fair:

Premiering July 10, The Anarchists[…]circles loosely around these dilemmas throughout six episodes that alternate between origin story, character study, true crime, and trend report.

2022 July 8, Judy Berman, “The Anarchists Is a Messy, Gripping Anarcho-Capitalist Saga”, in Time:

George Miller returns to direct an origin story for the character that Charlize Theron played in 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road,” with Anya Taylor-Joy in the Furiosa role.

2024 January 1, Holland Cotter, Alissa Wilkinson, Mike Hale, Salamishah Tillet, Jesse Green, “What Our Critics Are Looking Forward to in 2024”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(narratology) An account of how a fictional character or characters became a protagonist or antagonist.


top billing

top billing (usually uncountable, plural top billings)

She had top billing on the past three films.

(theater, film) The most prominent name on lists of cast and crew, or in advertising.


docucomedy

(film, television) A comedy presented as though it were a documentary.


Columbine

census-designated place
census-designated place

Jefferson County
Jefferson County#English

A census-designated place in Arapahoe County and Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, infamous for the school shooting that happened there in 1999.


She is a 2.5D actress.

(theater, drama) Of, belonging or relating to 2.5D musicals, a type of modern Japanese musical theater production which adapts stories originally presented in a two-dimensional medium (anime, manga, or video games).


conculture

From con- (“constructed”) + culture; compare conlang, conworld.

The most respected languages in the conlang community often have years of work behind them, and may even be attached to whole "conworlds" or "concultures" that help give them coherence and a model "literature."

2009, Arika Okrent, In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and the Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build A Perfect Language, Spiegel & Grau, published 2009, →ISBN, page 287:

An imaginary culture, especially one associated with a conworld or conlang.


scenarise

en-verb

scenarise (third-person singular simple present scenarises, present participle scenarising, simple past and past participle scenarised)

scenarises (present singular third-person)
scenarising (participle present)
scenarised (participle past)
scenarised (past)

On the basis of an exceptionally interesting story, skilfully scenarised by Eliot Stannard, Frank Crane has built a photo-play in which humour, tragedy, and romance blend exquisitely.

1922, Motion Picture Studio - Volume 1, Issues 31-52, page 21:

Directed by Joseph de Grasse from a Harvey Gates story scenarised by Ida May Park (Mrs. de Grasse), Hell Morgan's Girl presented Chaney in the role of Sleter Noble, a tough but sexy politician gang leader of San Francisco's Barbary Coast.

1976, DeWitt Bodeen, From Hollywood: The Careers of 15 Great American Stars, page 212:

In fact, Spencer Williams was maligned by the studios, forcing the Pittsburgh Courier to express it's disapproval of such practices by stating, 'Spencer Williams is said to have lost a golden opportunity at Christie Studios by kicking too soon for screen credit for pictures he claims to have helped scenarise. He is said to have forgotten that we have to abide our time.'

1997, Film History - Volume 9, page 105:

(film, theater) To create the physical set and staging for a film or play.


rock opera

(music, theater) A collection of rock songs which tell a story, often released as a single album.


DoggoLingo

(Internet slang, neologism) A form of English-language Internet slang related to dogs, using words such as doggo, woofer, bork, mlem, and heckin'.


do someone a frighten

do someone a frighten (third-person singular simple present does someone a frighten, present participle doing someone a frighten, simple past did someone a frighten, past participle done someone a frighten)

does someone a frighten (present singular third-person)
doing someone a frighten (participle present)
did someone a frighten (past)
done someone a frighten (participle past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-do someone a frighten.wav

Intentionally incorrect grammar for comedic purposes; compare do a listen and can haz. Originated with the “Stop It Son, You Are Doing Me a Frighten” meme; first known use is on 8 November 2015, in an iFunny post by watarimono.

Together they hiked until they came upon a crevasse that was too wide to leap. To get across, they would have to climb down into the crevasse, cross over on a sliver of ice that served as a quasi bridge, then climb back up. Which did Stickeen a frighten. The previously unfazed dog was suddenly very fazed and absolutely, positively refused to cross.

2019 October, Mackenzi Lee, The History of the World in Fifty Dogs, Abrams, →ISBN:

(Internet slang, humorous) To frighten someone.


big dick energy

The Spice Girls had Big Dick Energy in abundance, years before Twitter coined the term.

2018, Lauren Bravo, chapter 5, in What would the Spice Girls do?: How the Girl Power Generation Grew Up, Transworld Publishers, →ISBN:

I didn't really want Brunhild being associated with big dick energy. We were just a fledgling nation, so it’d be bad for our image.

2018, Patora Fuyuhara, In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 11, →ISBN:

“Told you so.” My brother finished his drink and grabbed both their empty glasses. “He needs to quit worrying about upsetting people and use that big dick energy he’s got for his own good.”

2019, Kristin Harte, Penance: A Vigilante Justice Novel, Kinship Press,, →ISBN:

(slang, vulgar) Unassuming self-confidence.


memeify

memeify (third-person singular simple present memeifies, present participle memeifying, simple past and past participle memeified)

memeifies (present singular third-person)
memeifying (participle present)
memeified (participle past)
memeified (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-memeify.wav

(Internet slang) To form an Internet meme out of something.


memeification

en-noun

memeification (countable and uncountable, plural memeifications)

“Trump Draws” was one of the earliest memeifications of newly-sworn President Trump, capturing the childlike delight that (at first) attended his signing of fancy documents with spiffy pens.

2017 December 27, Michael Andor Brodeur, “The meme class of 2017”, in The Boston Globe:

“Letterboxd has successfully tapped into the Gen Z phenomenon of ‘the memeification of everything’,” explains Rachel Lee of The Digital Fairy, a creative agency specialising in internet and youth culture.

2024 February 29, Jack King, quoting Rachel Lee, “Why everyone you know is suddenly a Letterboxd head”, in GQ:

(Internet) The process of forming an Internet meme out of something.


memelord

RYAN CHONG Editor & Journalist - Recipe A quirky student who likes food and bubbletea during the day but a punny memelord at night :)

2016 September, The Raven Review, page 3:

“Jesus,” Hannah said, “this memelord in my bio class keeps saying that. Is it from something?” “Oh, yeah, you've got to watch it,” Sebastian said.

2018, Riley Redgate, Final Draft, Abrams, →ISBN:

Elon Musk: Memelord or Meme Lifter? [headline]

2021 May 7, Taylor Lorenz, “Elon Musk: Memelord or Meme Lifter?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Which is why it’s easy to understand the draw, particularly when it’s fed by an army of meme lords on Reddit, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Telegram, promising that this is the next big opportunity in crypto.

2021 May 21, Nick Bilton, “Inside the Rise and Fall (and Rise and Fall) of Shit Coins”, in Vanity Fair:

Yeah, this is what’s known as the Elon Musk memelord thesis, basically. And he is the uber memelord. And he can move things like Dogecoin just by tweeting.

2022 April 29, Ezra Klein, “Elon Musk Might Break Twitter. Maybe That’s a Good Thing.” (14:17 from the start), in The Ezra Klein Show (podcast), spoken by Felix Salmon:

(Internet slang) A person known for creating or distributing memes (usually humorous material copied and circulated online).


problem play

(theater) A form of drama that emerged in the 19th century as part of realism, dealing with contentious social issues through debates between the characters on stage, who typically represent conflicting points of view within a realistic social context.


pastorela

Borrowed from Spanish pastorela, from French pastourelle.

A traditional Mexican theater performance that chronicles the journeys of shepherds and shepherdesses on the way to visit the newborn Jesus, typically performed during Advent.


dialogue tag

Not every paragraph of dialogue needs to have a dialogue tag attached to it.

Sometimes inexperienced writers will discover the useful tool of tacking on detail to a dialog tag with a present participal or adverbial phrase: "It's too late," she said, closing the door.

2000, Tom Romano, Blending Genre, Altering Style: Writing Multigenre Papers, →ISBN, page 63:

A dialogue tag has to indicate sound

2004, Leslie Wainger, Writing a Romance Novel For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons:

An alternative style forsakes italics altogether and assigns a dialogue tag: This is going nowhere, he thought.

2011, Deborah Halverson, Writing Young Adult Fiction For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons:

A line of dialogue followed by a dialogue tag looks like this: “Nothing suits me better than a fried egg on toast early in the morning,” Billy said.

2015, Kris James with Laura E. Koons and Stefanie Spangler Buswell, Beyond the Style Manual: Bundle #1, Red Adept Publishing:

(narratology, authorship) A sentence part that attributes a piece of written dialogue to its speaker. (e.g. In "Get out of here," he said, "he said" is a dialogue tag.)


expository lump

expository lump (plural expository lumps)

(authorship) A portion of a story that contains an excessive amount of exposition.


aragoto

A style of kabuki acting that uses exaggerated, dynamic movements and utterances.


twoprov

After realizing on their first date that they were both comedians, Alissa and Juliette immediately formed a twoprov team together.

I know you do twoprov with your EmotiStyle partner, Molly Austin.

2014 February 20, Brittani Nichols, “Comedy Crush: EmotiStyle's Shamikah Martinez”, in Autostraddle, archived from the original on 2017-07-10:

Opening the night was We Know Each Other, a fitting name for a married couple. We Know Each Other is a twoprov group that blends silliness, emotionality, and quirky characters in each scene.

2016 June 25, Aly, “Twin Cities Improv Festival X”, in Say Entirely, archived from the original on 2016-07-16:

The solo improv parts are very entertaining and the twoprov parts are very fun because they really play off each others^([sic]) comedy very very well.

2018 July 17, Holly, “Funny At The Fringe – REVIEW – Christian Adore and Eaton Messe DragProv Revue, Edinburgh Fringe Preview”, in Phoenix Remix, archived from the original on 2018-07-19:

improvisational comedy
improvisational comedy#English

(comedy) Improv (usually improvisational comedy) performed by a duo.