Tuesday, February 11, 2014

farceur

farceur \fahr-SUR\, noun:

1. a joker; wag.
2. a writer or director of or actor in farce.

A man may be happy at repartee, a merrymaker, a farceur, a jester, and yet not be a wit, although he may be esteemed one for his lively conversation, drollery, aptitude in rejoinder and equivoque.
-- John Duke Coleridge (1820 – 1894), Great Thoughts from Master Minds Vol. V, 1908
The life of a professional farceur isn't all a farce, by a long shot. This is especially true if you happen to be Collie of the Lambs Club.
-- William Collier, “When Life Is Not All a Farce,” New York Times, 1907

Farceur comes from the French word of the same spelling, which in turn is rooted in the Latin word farcire meaning "to stuff, cram."

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