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Tomfoolery

Tomfoolery is a noun denoting playful or foolish behavior, typically involving silly pranks, mischief, or nonsensical actions.^[1] The word entered the English language in the early 19th century, with its earliest known use recorded in 1812 in a text by writers Horatio and James Smith.^[2] It is formed by adding the suffix "-ery," indicating a collective quality or instance of something, to "tomfool."^[2] "Tomfool" itself, meaning a buffoon, clown, or trifler, originated in the mid-16th century, with the first evidence appearing in 1565 in the writings of Church of England clergyman James Calfhill.^[3] This compound derives from the proper name "Tom," a common diminutive of Thomas, combined with "fool," emphasizing a stereotypical simpleton or jester figure.^[3]^[4] The roots of the term trace further to Middle English, where "Thom Foole" served as a personification of a mentally deficient man or professional jester as early as the mid-14th century.^[4] Historical records from Durham Abbey mention payments to a figure called Thome Fole (also rendered as Thomas Fatuus in Latin), likely a court jester employed there in the 1300s, though it remains unclear whether this was a personal name or a descriptive title for the role.^[1] By the 17th century, "tomfool" had evolved into a general term for any foolhardy or clownish individual, and by the 18th century, it functioned as an intensified synonym for "fool."^[4] In modern usage, tomfoolery appears in literature, journalism, and everyday speech to describe lighthearted antics without malicious intent, such as pranks or whimsical distractions.^[1] For instance, it might refer to "a lot of tomfoolery going on behind the scenes" in a theatrical or social context.^[1] The word's frequency in contemporary English remains low, occurring about 0.08 times per million words in written texts, reflecting its niche but enduring role in capturing human folly.^[2]

Definition and Meaning

Core Definition

Tomfoolery is defined as playful or foolish behavior, typically involving silly or nonsensical actions that are lighthearted in nature.^[1] According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term encompasses senses of foolish conduct or antics, often without serious intent, with its primary usage emerging in the early 19th century.^[2] This definition aligns with descriptions in other authoritative sources, such as the Cambridge Dictionary, which characterizes it as silly behavior, especially when done as a joke.^[5] As a noun, tomfoolery functions primarily as an uncountable mass noun in English, referring to the general quality or instance of such behavior rather than discrete countable events, though it can occasionally appear in plural form for emphasis in informal contexts.^[1] In everyday usage, it describes scenarios like "the children's tomfoolery during recess," where playful pranks or antics disrupt but entertain, or "adult tomfoolery at a party," evoking lighthearted mischief akin to childish antics.^[1] For instance, one might say, "There was a lot of tomfoolery going on behind the scenes," to highlight unrestrained silliness in a group setting.^[1] The concept of tomfoolery connects broadly to notions of folly, representing harmless expressions of human absurdity without delving into deeper philosophical or historical implications.^[2]

Variations in Usage

In formal literary contexts, particularly within 19th-century English novels, "tomfoolery" often denotes whimsical absurdity or exaggerated foolishness, employed to critique social rituals or character behaviors with a touch of ironic detachment. For instance, in Charles Dickens's The Cricket on the Hearth (1845), the term describes the elaborate customs of a wedding as "all the rest of the tomfoolery," highlighting their superfluous and comical nature in a narrative blending humor and sentimentality.^[6] Similarly, in satirical works like Horatio and James Smith's Rejected Addresses (1812), the word's inaugural printed appearance celebrates theatrical antics with "Glory to Tomfoolery, huzza! huzza!" in a parody that mocks dramatic pretensions, underscoring its early role in literary humor to expose pretentious folly. Colloquially, "tomfoolery" finds frequent use in everyday speech to describe lighthearted, harmless pranks or antics at social gatherings, evoking a sense of playful mischief without malice. Modern examples include references to office parties filled with "tomfoolery and laughter," where the term captures spontaneous, jovial disruptions like impromptu games or jests among colleagues.^[7] This informal application aligns with its portrayal as "silly behavior, especially done as a joke," often in familial or friendly settings to affectionately chide minor indiscretions.^[8] While the term's core connotation of playful foolishness remains consistent across English variants, subtle regional nuances appear in emphasis: British English tends to stress noisier or rougher elements, as in "playful behaviour, usually of a rather silly, noisy, or rough kind," evoking boisterous group antics.^[9] In contrast, American English leans toward a gentler sense of "playful or foolish behavior," more akin to whimsical silliness in personal interactions.^[1] These differences reflect broader linguistic preferences but do not alter the word's fundamental meaning. Dictionaries now consistently frame it as endearingly silly, as in "foolish or silly behavior; tomfoolishness," often with synonyms like "horseplay" or "monkeyshine" that soften any judgment into fond amusement.^[10] This evolution mirrors changing cultural attitudes toward levity, transforming the term from a tool of critique into one of warm tolerance for human eccentricity.

Etymology and Origins

Roots in "Tom Fool"

The term "tomfoolery" traces its etymological roots to the compound "Tom Fool," a personified name in Middle English that denoted a buffoon, clown, or simpleton, emerging around the mid-14th century as "Thom Foole."^[4] Historical records from the 14th century include payments to a figure called Thome Fole (also rendered as Thomas Fatuus in Latin) at Durham Abbey, likely referring to a court jester, though it is unclear whether this was a personal name or a descriptive title.^[1] In English folklore, "Tom" served as a generic everyman name, akin to a placeholder for ordinary individuals, often paired with descriptors to evoke archetypal figures of folly or mischief, such as "Tom Long" for a loquacious storyteller or "Tom Fool" for an emphatically foolish jester or trifler.^[11] This combination amplified the notion of foolishness, transforming "fool" from a general term into a more vivid, character-driven representation of silly or inept behavior.^[4] This nomenclature connects to broader medieval traditions where names like "Tom o' Bedlam" or "Poor Tom" designated wandering madmen or beggars released from the Bethlem Royal Hospital (colloquially "Bedlam"), embodying societal outcasts whose erratic behavior blurred the lines between jest and insanity.^[12] Such figures, often depicted as harmlessly deranged or feigned fools, reinforced "Tom" as a shorthand for the foolhardy everyman in cultural narratives, linking personal folly to communal entertainment.^[12] Over time, the proper noun "Tom Fool" evolved into the abstract noun "tomfoolery," first attested in 1812 to describe acts of foolish trifling or silly antics, shifting emphasis from the character to the behavior itself and intensifying the sense of playful absurdity beyond mere "foolery."^[13]

Early Linguistic Evidence

The earliest recorded use of the word "tomfoolery" appears in 1812, in the satirical work Rejected Addresses; or, The New Theatrum Poetarum by brothers James and Horace Smith, where it describes absurd and clownish antics in a parody titled "A Patriotic Speech," exclaiming "Glory to Tomfoolery, huzza! huzza!". This instance marks the term's debut as a noun denoting foolish trifling or silly behavior, formed by adding the suffix "-ery" to "tomfool" to indicate a collective or habitual form of foolishness.^[1]^[13] Preceding this, "tomfool" itself had established usage as both a noun and adjective referring to a buffoon, clown, or trifler, with attestations dating to the mid-16th century and becoming more common in the 17th and 18th centuries in literary and pamphlet texts. For example, the Oxford English Dictionary traces its first appearance to 1565 in the writings of James Calfhill, a Church of England clergyman, where it denotes a simpleton or idiot, evolving from the quasi-proper name "Thom Fool" used in Middle English for a stereotypical fool figure.^[14] By the 17th century, it appeared in plays and satires as an emphatic descriptor for absurd actions, such as in theatrical contexts portraying clowns or jesters, and in 18th-century pamphlets critiquing social folly.^[15] The term "tomfoolery" draws influence from earlier compounds like "foolery," attested from the 1550s, which denoted playful or foolish conduct without the intensifying "tom-" prefix, derived from Old French "fol" meaning a madman or jester.^[16] The prefix "tom-," a common Middle English marker for generic male figures (as in "tomcat"), served to heighten the sense of buffoonery, transforming "fool" into a more vivid, personified form of idiocy linked to the archetypal "Tom Fool" character in folklore and performance.^[13] Documentation in sources like the Oxford English Dictionary notes variant spellings such as "tom-foolery" in early 19th-century print, reflecting transitional hyphenation before standardization to the solid form.^[17]

Historical Context

Role of Fools in Medieval Culture

In medieval European courts, fools, often known as court jesters, served as professional entertainers who employed satire, witty wordplay, and physical comedy—such as tumbling, juggling, and bawdy performances—to provide amusement while subtly critiquing authority figures like kings and nobles.^[18] This licensed role allowed them to voice truths that others could not, acting as informal advisors who exposed folly through exaggeration and absurdity, thereby maintaining social balance without direct confrontation.^[19] Professional fools were typically astute and multi-talented individuals, distinct from "innocent" or "natural" fools who were marginalized figures, including those with intellectual or physical disabilities, kept for their unwitting humor or as symbols of charity.^[18] Historical records from Durham Abbey in the 1300s mention payments to a figure called Thome Fole (also rendered as Thomas Fatuus in Latin), likely a court jester employed there, representing an early instance of the "Tom Fool" personification.^[1] Literary depictions from the period highlight this tradition of licensed folly, where fools embodied absurdity to reveal deeper truths. In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, particularly the Miller's Tale (c. 1387–1400), the carpenter John is portrayed as a gullible fool, tricked by the cunning student Nicholas in a fabliau that inverts social norms through comedic deception and physical farce, underscoring the fool's role in exposing human folly.^[20] This medieval archetype persisted into early modern literature, as seen in William Shakespeare's King Lear (c. 1606), where the Fool serves as a truth-teller to the king, using riddles and songs to critique Lear's rash decisions amid tragedy, drawing on the long-standing court fool tradition of blending wisdom with apparent madness.^[21] Fools also functioned culturally as societal truth-tellers, often drawn from the poor, mad, or disabled, who used their outsider status to comment on power through nonsense and inversion, providing a safety valve for tensions in hierarchical medieval society.^[22] Their paradoxical position—privileged yet lowly—enabled them to mirror the court's vices without repercussions, as in the bauble (a mock scepter) symbolizing inverted authority.^[22] This dynamic was amplified during the Feast of Fools, a clerical holiday celebrated around New Year's (from the 12th century, peaking in the 13th–14th centuries), where social roles were temporarily inverted: lower clergy donned bishops' robes, parodied rituals with revelry and cross-dressing, and appointed a "Lord of Misrule" or "Abbot of Unreason" to lead the merriment, allowing brief chaos to reinforce the existing order.^[23] Such festivities, rooted in earlier Roman Saturnalia traditions, celebrated the fool as a divine or natural figure, fostering communal catharsis through playful nonsense.^[24]

Emergence in Modern English

The term "tomfoolery," denoting foolish or playful behavior, emerged in early 19th-century English as a compound from "tom fool," a longstanding personification of simple-mindedness or jesting folly rooted in medieval traditions of court jesters.^[1]^[13] Its first recorded use dates to 1812, attributed to the writers Horatio and James Smith in a context evoking nonsensical antics.^[25] During the Victorian era, "tomfoolery" gained traction in popular literature and periodicals, reflecting the period's growing appetite for lighthearted satire amid expanding middle-class leisure activities. Humorous magazines like Punch, or the London Charivari, launched in 1841, frequently employed the word to critique or lampoon trivial absurdities.^[26] In plays and novels of the time, it signified acceptable, whimsical diversion rather than grave imprudence, aligning with societal shifts toward viewing mild folly as harmless entertainment.^[27] By the late 19th century, its pejorative edge softened, increasingly synonymous with innocent fun in everyday usage.^[28]

Cultural and Literary Impact

Depictions in Literature

In Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), the protagonist Tom's mischievous escapades, such as convincing his friends to whitewash a fence by feigning its desirability, exemplify tomfoolery as youthful rebellion against routine and authority. These acts reveal Tom's imaginative schemes, blending playfulness with clever manipulation to evade chores and gain social leverage among peers.^[29] Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) portrays tomfoolery through the absurd, rule-breaking antics of its characters, where nonsense logic disrupts conventional behavior, as in the Mad Hatter's tea party that defies time and etiquette. Alice's encounters with talking animals and illogical trials underscore foolish conduct as a critique of rigid adult norms, emphasizing whimsical defiance over rational order.^[30] In the 20th-century Jeeves stories by P.G. Wodehouse, such as The Inimitable Jeeves (1923), tomfoolery manifests in the upper-class silliness of Bertie Wooster and the Drones Club members, whose bungled schemes and idle pranks satirize aristocratic idleness and social pretensions.^[31] Jeeves's interventions highlight the chaos of such frivolity, contrasting it with understated efficiency.^[31] Across these works, tomfoolery functions thematically as a device for social commentary and character development in satirical fiction, exposing hypocrisies in youth, logic, and class structures through exaggerated folly.^[32]

References in Media and Entertainment

The term "tomfoolery" has appeared in various media and entertainment formats, often evoking themes of playful mischief and absurdity distinct from its literary roots. One early example is the 1936 German comedy film Tomfoolery (original title: Allotria), directed by Willi Forst and starring Renate Müller, Jenny Jugo, and Anton Walbrook, which follows two friends navigating romantic entanglements and lighthearted deceptions in a screwball style inspired by American farces.^[33] In television, the 1970–1971 American animated series The Tomfoolery Show, produced by Rankin/Bass and aired on NBC, adapted nonsense rhymes and whimsical characters from Edward Lear's works, such as the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo, into short comedic segments blending poetry with visual humor to delight young audiences.^[34] The 1980 musical revue Tomfoolery, devised by Cameron Mackintosh and based on the satirical songs of Tom Lehrer, premiered in London at the Criterion Theatre, featuring four performers delivering witty numbers on topics like politics, education, and pollution to highlight societal absurdities through sharp, irreverent lyrics.^[35] In more contemporary entertainment, "tomfoolery" serves as shorthand for comedic chaos in TV episodes and specials; for instance, the 2016 The Real Housewives of New York City episode titled "Tomfoolery" (Season 8, Episode 19) captures interpersonal pranks and revelations among the cast, amplifying dramatic hijinks in a reality format.^[36] Similarly, Irish comedian Tommy Tiernan's 2024 stand-up special Tommy Tiernan: Tomfoolery, streaming on platforms like Tubi, riffs on everyday absurdities from medical exams to family life, using the term to frame his observational humor.^[37] While less formalized in video games, the word occasionally appears in player communities or titles to describe playful, rule-bending antics, echoing its broader cultural connotation of harmless folly.

Synonyms and Antonyms

Tomfoolery, denoting playful or silly behavior, shares semantic overlaps with several synonyms that capture aspects of foolishness or mischief. Buffoonery refers to exaggerated clowning or comical antics intended to amuse, often through absurd gestures or performances. Horseplay involves rough physical fun or boisterous play, typically among groups engaging in energetic but non-malicious roughhousing. Nonsense encompasses absurd talk or actions lacking sense or purpose, emphasizing verbal or conceptual silliness. Shenanigans describe mischievous tricks or playful deceptions, usually lighthearted and scheming in nature.^[38] In contrast, antonyms of tomfoolery highlight restraint and propriety. Seriousness implies a grave demeanor focused on weighty matters without levity. Decorum denotes proper conduct adhering to social norms and etiquette. Prudence signifies careful behavior guided by foresight and caution, avoiding rash or foolish actions. A key nuance of tomfoolery lies in its implication of harmlessness, distinguishing it from more chaotic or destructive terms like mayhem, which involves violent disorder rather than benign silliness.^[1] In traditional thesauruses such as Roget's, tomfoolery is grouped under broader categories of foolishness, alongside terms evoking levity and absurdity without harm.^[39]

Distinctions from Pranks and Jests

Tomfoolery denotes playful or foolish behavior characterized by silly, often nonsensical actions intended to amuse without inherent malice or deception. Originating from the term "tomfool," which referred to a buffoon or clown in the 17th century, it encompasses a broad range of lighthearted antics that emphasize whimsy over targeted trickery.^[1]^[13] Unlike pranks, which involve specific, mildly mischievous tricks or practical jokes aimed at surprising or deceiving the target for humorous effect, tomfoolery lacks this element of calculated surprise. A prank, such as altering a colleague's computer settings to cause temporary confusion, typically requires planning and execution to elicit a reaction, and while often harmless, it can occasionally veer into annoyance if poorly timed.^[40]^[41] In contrast, tomfoolery might manifest as spontaneous, undirected silliness, like exaggerated dancing at a social gathering, without intending to fool anyone specifically.^[5] Jests differ further by being predominantly verbal or rhetorical forms of humor, such as witty remarks, mocking comments, or jokes delivered in a teasing manner to provoke laughter. Rooted in medieval narratives of exploits that evolved into idle tales by the 16th century, a jest relies on clever wordplay or irony rather than physical action.^[42]^[43] For instance, responding to a serious question with an absurd quip constitutes a jest, whereas tomfoolery would involve embodying the absurdity through visible, foolish conduct. Although tomfoolery may incorporate jests or pranks as components, its core lies in the overall aura of playful folly, distinguishing it as a more encompassing, less structured expression of levity.^[44]

References

[1]
TOMFOOLERY Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
Tomfoolery as a term for playful or foolish behavior didn't come into use until the early 19th century, but it's proven to be of far more use to English ...
[2]
tomfoolery, n. meanings, etymology and more
The earliest known use of the noun tomfoolery is in the 1810s. OED's earliest evidence for tomfoolery is from 1812, in a text by Horatio Smith, writer and ...
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tomfool, n. & adj. meanings, etymology and more | Oxford English ...
The earliest known use of the word tomfool is in the mid 1500s. OED's earliest evidence for tomfool is from 1565, in the writing of James Calfhill, Church of ...
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Tom-fool - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
1640s, from Middle English Thom Foole, a personification of or quasi-personal name for a mentally deficient man or a jester.Missing: definition | Show results with:definition
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TOMFOOLERY | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary
TOMFOOLERY meaning: 1. silly behaviour, especially done as a joke 2. silly behavior, especially done as a joke 3…. Learn more.
[6]
The Cricket on the Hearth - Project Gutenberg
Church, parson, clerk, beadle, glass coach, bells, breakfast, bridecake, favours, marrow-bones, cleavers, and all the rest of the tomfoolery. A wedding, you ...
[7]
Tomfoolery - Definition, meaning and examples | WordUp App
The office party was full of tomfoolery and laughter. 'Tomfoolery' often implies disapproval of the activities being described.
[8]
TOMFOOLERY | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
Nov 5, 2025 · TOMFOOLERY definition: 1. silly behaviour, especially done as a joke 2. silly behavior, especially done as a joke 3…. Learn more.
[9]
TOMFOOLERY definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary
uncountable noun Tomfoolery is playful behaviour, usually of a rather silly, noisy, or rough kind.
[10]
TOMFOOLERY Definition & Meaning - Dictionary.com
noun plural tomfooleries foolish or silly behavior; tomfoolishness. Synonyms: monkeyshine, horseplay, silliness, foolishness
[11]
Tomfoolery dates back to generic Tom
Nov 6, 2017 · If someone took a long time to recount a tale, he might be called "Tom Long." And if he acted like a buffoon, he was called "Tom Fool." The ...
[12]
Cumbria - Features - Tom Foolery and Muncaster Castle - BBC
Jan 4, 2008 · It was from Thomas, The Fool, Skelton's behavior that the cliché 'tom-foolery' originated ... Tom Fool died around 1600. Most of the ghostly ...
[13]
TOMFOOL definition in American English - Collins Dictionary
nounOrigin: earlier Tom Fool, as in Tom o'Bedlam, poor Tom, names formerly applied to people with mental health disorders or intellectual disability.Missing: connection | Show results with:connection
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Tomfoolery - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
1640s, from Middle English Thom Foole, a personification of or quasi-personal name for a mentally deficient man or a jester.
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Nov 4, 2025 · Word History Etymology. Noun. earlier Tom foole, from Tom, shortened form of Thomas, a proper name + foole fool entry 1. Note: The word was ...
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Foolery - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
Entries linking to foolery ... early 13c., "silly, stupid, or ignorant person," from Old French fol "madman, insane person; idiot; rogue; jester," also " ...Missing: earliest | Show results with:earliest
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From battlefield comedians to unfortunate messengers, jesters played varied roles in courts through the Middle Ages and Tudor period.
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Fooling Around the World: The History of the Jester (from Chapter 1: Facets of the Fool and Chapter 7: Stultorum Plena Sunt Omnia, or Fools Are Everywhere).
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You are a fool, your wit is overcome.” “Now hear me,” said the miller, “all and some! But first I make a protestation round.
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Dec 7, 2020 · A 'natural fool' was indeed someone who had a disability, in that they were born with low intellect or learning difficulties (Iyengar, 235; ...
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The Paradox of the Fool | Close Look | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Mar 3, 2023 · The fool could as easily succumb to narcissism as anyone else. The donkey's ears on the fool's hood signaled that he was an ass of sorts: he ...
[24]
The New Year's Feast That Transformed Fools Into Popes and Kings
Dec 29, 2017 · The New Year's Feast That Transformed Fools Into Popes and Kings · In medieval churches, hierarchy was inverted for a day. · A daily dose of ...
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May 26, 2023 · The Feast of Fools developed in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries as an elaborate and orderly liturgy for the day of the Circumcision (1 January).
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Word of the Day, 14 June 2025: 'Tomfoolery' - Mathrubhumi English
Jun 14, 2025 · While Tom Fool was used earlier to represent a generic fool, tomfoolery solidified into a noun describing mischievous acts or behaviour without ...
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M r. PUNCH'S HISTORY OF MODERN ENGLAND - Project Gutenberg
... Punch, who marvelled at the folly of the promoters of a "stupid, cruel, degrading piece of tomfoolery" in sending him tickets to witness it. "I knew," he ...
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The Origin of Tomfoolery: From Past to Present - Wordpandit
Exploring the origin of “tomfoolery” offers a glimpse into medieval humor, cultural shifts, and how language preserves the spirit of laughter across centuries.
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(PDF) From Punch to Matˡvālā: Transcultural Lives of a Literary ...
Jul 14, 2025 · ... tomfoolery, carried. the weight of public opinion. One of the Punch columns dealt precisely with this. theme. When a young and beautiful mehˡ ...
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Word of the Day: Tomfoolery | Merriam-Webster
Jul 18, 2024 · A court jester identified as Thome Fole was employed at Durham Abbey in the 14th century, but the record is unclear about whether Thome Fole was ...<|control11|><|separator|>
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[PDF] MARK TWAIN'S USES OF RELIGIOUS SATIRE A dis - Drew University
Tomfoolery of the evasion chapters, and, as Jim is tormented by Huck's ... faces…learning to do right and good” (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 48).
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sharing our foolishness, our failings, our ineptitude with a character who to ... Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (New York: Dover, 1993), 61.
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[PDF] HUMOUR, COMEDY AND LIFE IN P.G. WODEHOUSE'S JEEVES ...
Feb 12, 2024 · also be found in the Jeeves saga in the references to food and drink as well as in the tomfoolery of the Drones; and their indulging in ...
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defined and distinguised humor of mark twain - Academia.edu
Though Twain is best known for his novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and ... Tomfoolery and perhaps also cheating a large amount of money. Actually ...
[35]
Allotria (1936) - IMDb
Rating 7/10 (170) An elegant, fast-paced film drawing on some of the classiest comedy talent Germany had to offer at the time, and self-consciously modern.
[36]
Tomfoolery (TV Series 1970– ) - IMDb
Rating 7.6/10 (58) Tomfoolery was an animated cartoon series based on the nonsense poetry of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. There were several recurring characters, ...
[37]
Tomfoolery | Music Theatre International
A revue of the witty, wicked and thoroughly twisted world of famed satirical songwriter Tom Lehrer. Tomfoolery is based on The Tom Lehrer Songbook and is a ...
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"The Real Housewives of New York City" Tomfoolery (TV ... - IMDb
Rating 7.7/10 (24) Tomfoolery: With Bethenny Frankel, Dorinda Medley, Carole Radziwill, Sonja Morgan. Bethenny shares a damaging secret about Luann's relationship with some of ...
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Watch Tommy Tiernan: Tomfoolery (2024) - Free Movies | Tubi
Sep 8, 2024 · Tommy Tiernan: Tomfoolery ... Fresh off his role on the hit show Derry Girls, Irish comic Tommy Tiernan riffs on everything from medical exams to ...
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tomfoolery · sedateness · demureness · childishness · buffoonery · horseplay · skylarking · idiocy · silliness ...
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Definition of PRANK
### Summary of "Prank" from Merriam-Webster
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Prank - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
### Etymology and Definition of "Prank"
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Definition of JEST
### Summary of "Jest" from Merriam-Webster
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Jest - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
### Etymology and Definition of "Jest"
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Jest vs Prank: When To Use Each One In Writing
Remember, a jest is a playful or humorous remark or action, while a prank is a mischievous trick or practical joke. Conclusion. In conclusion, understanding the ...