Merry Andrew

See also: merryandrew and merry-andrew

English

Alternative forms

• merry andrew
• merry-andrew
• merryandrew

Etymology

Originally associated with a specific act at Bartholomew Fair; later said to have come from the name of Andrew Boorde.

Pronunciation

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Noun

Merry Andrew (plural Merry Andrews)

1. (idiomatic) A person who clowns publicly; a buffoon; an entertainer's assistant.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1973, page 438:

     Instead, therefore, of answering my landlady, the puppet-show man ran out to punish his Merry-Andrew [...]

   • 1873, William Lucas Collins, chapter III, in Plautus and Terence, page 31:

     The games of the circus—the wild-beast fight and the gladiators, the rope-dancers, the merry-andrews, and the posture-masters,—were more to their taste than clever intrigue and brilliant dialogue.

   • 1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 155:

     One of them, the eldest, was a sort of merry andrew and was not above dressing the part with a weird cap of jackal's skin with many hanging tails and tassels.

Translations

person who clowns publicly — see clown