MUMMER

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Dr. Goodword
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MUMMER

Postby Dr. Goodword » Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:04 am

• mummer •

Pronunciation: mêm-êr • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. A mime, a pantomime. 2. A brightly, indeed, fantastically costumed merrymaker at a festival.

Notes: The behavior of a mummer in either sense of today's Good Word is mummery. This noun can also refer to the costumes of merrymaking mummers. These mummers are prevalent in Thanksgiving and Fourth of July parades, where they generally march as flamboyant, high-stepping bands.

In Play: When Americans think of mummers today, they usually think of the high-stepping bands in gonzo costumes from the Philadelphia area: "I think the high school band's new uniforms are too flashy; they almost look like mummers." Of course, we may hyperbolize with this word whenever we see any outlandish or flamboyant outfit on someone: "Maude Lynn Dresser came to the party looking like a run-down mummer who had just stepped out of the 18th century!"

Word History: Today's Good Word is the word mum "silent, silence" with the suffix -er, which often doubles a final consonant (see also runner and quitter). Mum in this sense is onomatopoetic since it is pronounced by clinching the lips. It also underlies mumble. Where the second sense came from is a question with a bit more tangled answer. This sense may have resulted from an association with the word mime, inherited from Greek mimos via Latin mimus and French mime. Mimes are silent but they do wear costumes. Costumes are also are implied by Dutch mommen "disguise" and French momerie "masquerade, masked ball", either of which could be the source of mummer in the second sense. (Today's Good Word was suggested by Michael A. Salsburg, a member of the Ferko String Band, which you can always watch in a Fourth of July parade near Philadelphia.)
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sluggo
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Postby sluggo » Sat Jul 05, 2008 12:21 pm

As a native Phluffyan I've never known the Mummers to parade on any occasion except New Year's Day. Maybe the Fourth is a new wrinkle?

Mumming, though, is a much older folk custom of community drama put on by local townsfolk since centuries past, particularly in the British Isles. Commonly attending Christmas and other holidays, they usually feature some conflict of hero/villain and/or death/resurrection and proffer their dialogue in rhyming couplets. Elabourate costumes are employed to portray folk legends such as St. George and Robin Hood.

The roots of mumming are variously suspected to reach further back in European time and place, possibly as far as the 10th century. Thus the stringband incarnation of the word is in the big picture a rather recent upstart.

(A bit more here)
FreeDictionary saith: Middle English, from Old French momeur, from momer, to wear a mask, pantomime.
Stop! Murder us not, tonsured rumpots! Knife no one, fink!


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