Farce Was Originally Stuffing
A farce is a broad comedy or an absurd situation. The word came from cooking, where it means stuffing put inside something else.
A farce is a comedy built on improbable situations, or any absurd and badly managed affair. The name comes from the kitchen: Latin *farcire* means to stuff, and medieval French used *farce* for comic material stuffed into the gaps of a serious religious play. The word for stuffing became the word for the interlude, and then for the whole genre. The cooking sense survives in *forcemeat*, a stuffing of ground meat.
- A broad comedy. *A bedroom farce.*
- An absurd situation. *The trial was a farce.*
- Stuffing (archaic). *A savoury farce.*
- Farcical — ridiculous. *A farcical scene.*
- Forcemeat — a meat stuffing. *Sage forcemeat.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | farce | A pure farce. |
| Plural | farces | Two farces. |
| Adjective | farcical | Farcical scenes. |
| Related | forcemeat | Forcemeat. |
| Latin | farcire | To stuff. |
- The play is a classic French farce.Theatre.
- The whole process became a farce.Criticism.
- Forcemeat is a stuffing of ground meat.Cooking.
What makes a farce a farce
- Improbable coincidences piled on each other
- Mistaken identity, often involving disguise
- Doors — the physical comedy of near-misses
- Escalating panic as characters try to conceal things
- Speed — farce depends on pace more than wit
Old French *farce*, stuffing, from Latin *farcire*, to stuff. The theatrical sense comes from comic passages inserted into religious drama.
Why is a comedy called stuffing?
Because comic scenes were stuffed into the gaps of serious medieval religious plays. The filling gave its name to the form.
Is farcical the same as funny?
Not quite. Farcical suggests something is absurd to the point of not being taken seriously, and is often critical.