hamfatter

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English

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Etymology

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US, a. 1880. Possibly from a minstrel show song called The Ham-Fat Man (1863).[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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hamfatter (plural hamfatters)

  1. (US slang, acting) A low-grade actor; a ham.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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References

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  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “ham”, in Online Etymology Dictionary, retrieved 2017-03-16:
    hamfatter (1880) "actor of low grade," which is said (since at least 1889) to be from the old minstrel show song, "The Ham-fat Man" (attested by 1856). The song, a comical black-face number, has nothing to do with acting, but the connection might be with the quality of acting in minstrel shows, where the song was popular (compare the definition of hambone in the 1942 "American Thesaurus of Slang," "unconvincing blackface dialectician").

Anagrams

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