New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-09-24
SLANG OF THE STAGE.
Terms Used By the Theatrical Pro-
feSSioB.

"oh he's ham, fit for nothing but shines or
q supe. II he gets a shop he can't keep it.
Hes always going up OF sticking dead. He's
huffer and q hogger. Fit only for a feeder"
II you heard one man speaking the foregoing
words TO another you would know he was say
ing something derogatory about some one. and
YOU would probably deduce that the one
described was gourmand a sort Of Sam
Weller. You would be wrong. The person
criticised would be an actor. and you would
hear his acting criticised in stage slang.
Translated into every day English. the OPEN
ing paragraph would read:
'On, he's q bad actor 1T for nothing but
bad parts. IF he gets an engagement he can't
keep II He's always temporarily forgetting
his lines or losing them entirely He never
knows his lines. He always puts IN his own
words IN place Of the playwright's when he can,
or tries 20 attract all the attention to himself
He is st only to give cues 70 another actor
Another form Of slang peculiar to actors, es-
peciaIIy English performers. is the application
OF long or compound synonymes Of a tocular
nature to the most common objects or actions.
Like the more technical slang Of the stage
proper. it is unintelligihle save to those who
use Il
Here IS q sample Of It:
Hello, old pot and pan, how is your trouble
and strife?'
All IsIe-of- Wight Her Chevy Chase is stin
bad, but she's on her plates Of meat at last
She'll soon be doing her now's-my-chance on the
ereengage again"
Fine. Can you lend a most unw1IlingT
Ny old mother-o-pearl has the bread and
honey. but III try and half-inch a Jimmy O.
goblin from her"
The translation Of this seeming tumble makes
It a very commonplace, matter-of-fact question
and answer. Here it is:
Hello old man. how is your wife7"
"Au right. Her face is still bad. but she's On
her feet at last She'll soon be doiZg her dance
On the stage again"
Fine Can you lend me a shilling?"
MY old girl has the money, but I'll try and
sinch e sovereign from her"
Every calling in the days work has it's tech
meal terms and phrases, peculiar to itself, wnlch
are reckoned as slang, and with which CONVEX
sation can be carried on as meaningless to the
outsider as the jargon Of thieves and yeggmen-
Thus, II is with acting as it is with medicine,
law. Wall Street speculation. sports and nearly
all occupations and pastimes. No one OF these.
however, has contributed more TO the general
stock IN trade of street slang than the stage
As illustrated in the conversations already
quoted there are two kinds Of stage shanghai
peculiar 10 the work OF the stage and that
which actors employ in ordinary talk when they
are not behind the footights.
In the first class there is g bewtldering num-
Der Of terms which have double meanings, are
APPLIED to inanirnate and animate objects and
are used either in a sense Of praise or OF de-
rison.
Every one who has been to a theatre knows
what q '-supe' is. He or she IS the man or
woman who is supernuuerary TO the cast proper,
one who stands in the background spear
bearer Is another term for 'supe,' but II also
applies TO q member Of the chorus In leg1tl-
mate drama all those who have no speaking
parts are "supes." Hence, it is often used as
term OF derision when applied TO an actor who
IN reality has speaking part.
A PROP short for property, is anything that
is hand ed and props is the man or woman
who takes care of II. All Of the stage fittings
and the costumes Of all but the principals II
spectacular and musical productions are props.
A "ranter' or ''bawler'' is one who overacts.
Making contract TO appear in play Is get
ting shop A double" is al actor who takes
two or more parts in the same cast
An actor who for the moment forgets his
lines is spoken Of as going up" If he forgets
them entirely he is sticking dead" An actor
who gets a reputation for always forgetting his
lines is known as & "fUffer"
Fake" and taking used in a double
sense 10 indicate either fraud or the use Of old
material in q new way. Thus fake" actor, or
"faker" may be either who has no real
merit OF who has the ability TO make some
thing out Of nothing. or give old device
appearance. A ''fzker' is also one who can tide
over break" that is. when another actor for
gets his lines, by interpolating words not in the
play.
thing which is not The term ''faker." used in
coIoQuiaI slang to denote fraud. is taken from
the stage vocabulary. as is making a hit
which, originally meaning that an actor had
been successful, now implies pleasing in any
form
An act is down when il is over. While being
played II is on" A gag" is words not in the
lines OF the author, introduced by the actor
when he thinks he better the situation