Friday, July 17, 2015

That guy's a real pistol

Tonight we saw "The Merry Wives of Windsor" at the Hampshire Shakespeare Company.  I hadn't read or seen this play before and there's a comic relief character in it named "Pistol."

I was wondering if this was the origin of the word that has come to mean a "jokester" - a funny guy.  I can't seem to find confirmation on the web but it seems as good an explanation as any.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

pistol (plural pistols)

A handgun, typically with a chamber integrated in the barrel, a semi-automatic action and a box magazine.
The mechanical component of a fuse in a bomb or torpedo responsible for firing the detonator.
A creative and unpredictable jokester, a constant source of entertainment and surprises.  [quotations ▼]
(Southern US) A small boy who is bright, alert and very active.
(American football) A play formation in which the quarterback is a few feet behind the center when the ball is snapped, but closer than in a shotgun formation, with a running back a few feet behind him.  [quotations ▼]

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pistol