peanut gallery
wuzzy
def'n: A group of persons at work making alot of commotion.
Usually said with a wink: "and here is the peanut gallery"
Is this a reference to the syndicated "peanuts"?
A reference to "craziness" eg., "nuts"?
Armond Perretta
"wuzzy" <myp...@hotmail.com> wrote ...
Google for "Howdy Doody."
--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.tripod.com
Don Phillipson
news:d996c21a.02102...@posting.google.com...
This comes from price and social class in American
theatres a century ago, when people often drank beer
and ate sandwiches during vaudeville shows. The
cheapest snack was peanuts, sold mainly in the
top tier, in the cheapest seats, i.e. the peanut
gallery. Secondly the people in the peanut gallery
were assumed to have simpler and lower
theatrical tastes than people in the stalls.
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada)
dphil...@trytel.com.com.com.less2
Martin Ambuhl
>
> Peanut gallery:
> def'n: A group of persons at work making alot of commotion.
Wrong.
> Usually said with a wink: "and here is the peanut gallery"
>
> Is this a reference to the syndicated "peanuts"?
No. In long-ago days, movie theaters were large and had balconies.
The undesirable top gallery was the home of the cheap seats.
The place and the people in them were called "the peanut gallery."
In the less distant, but still long-ago past, an early TV children's
show called "Howdy Dowdy" had the squealing wriggly audience members
packed into a similarly-named "peanut gallery." When we hear from "the
peanut gallery," it is the mouthings of the immature and uninformed that
we
hear. These voices, like those from the cheap seats, also tend to
be critical, focusing on the insignificant.
Fred Galvin
> No. In long-ago days, movie theaters were large and had balconies.
> The undesirable top gallery was the home of the cheap seats.
> The place and the people in them were called "the peanut gallery."
>
> In the less distant, but still long-ago past, an early TV children's
> show called "Howdy Dowdy" had the squealing wriggly audience members
> packed into a similarly-named "peanut gallery." When we hear from "the
> peanut gallery," it is the mouthings of the immature and uninformed that
> we
> hear. These voices, like those from the cheap seats, also tend to
> be critical, focusing on the insignificant.
Such as the fact that it was Howdy Doody, not "Dowdy"?
Robert Bannister
> wuzzy wrote:
> >
> > Peanut gallery:
> > def'n: A group of persons at work making alot of commotion.
>
> Wrong.
>
> > Usually said with a wink: "and here is the peanut gallery"
> >
> > Is this a reference to the syndicated "peanuts"?
>
> No. In long-ago days, movie theaters were large and had balconies.
> The undesirable top gallery was the home of the cheap seats.
> The place and the people in them were called "the peanut gallery."
How strange. It was always the front rows of the stall that were cheap -
extremely uncomfortable in the front row, craning your neck upwards to see
the film. The back of the balcony was the preferred, and most expensive
spot for lovers.
--
Rob Bannister
Peter Moylan
Your experience matches mine. At my local picture theatre there were
two classes of seats. The stalls were for the hoi polloi (and I refuse
to apologise for the repeated article). The balcony, also known as
the dress circle, was more expensive. It was understood, although
never enforced, that one had to be formally dressed in order to
enter the dress circle. I don't think I ever saw a top hat in the
dress circle, but I did see suits.
That, however, was in a small country town. When I went to a classy
theatre in The Big City, I found myself in a place called 'The Gods',
presumably because it was close to the heavens. It wasn't the
classy balcony as I had known it, but a spot several hundred metres
higher than the balcony. I didn't get to see the show, because
nobody had thought to warn me to bring binoculars.
That, I imagine, is what our American friends are calling the
peanut gallery.
--
Peter Moylan pe...@ee.newcastle.edu.au
http://eepjm.newcastle.edu.au
Robert Bannister
> Robert Bannister wrote:
>
> > How strange. It was always the front rows of the stall that were cheap -
> > extremely uncomfortable in the front row, craning your neck upwards to see
> > the film. The back of the balcony was the preferred, and most expensive
> > spot for lovers.
>
> Your experience matches mine. At my local picture theatre there were
> two classes of seats. The stalls were for the hoi polloi (and I refuse
> to apologise for the repeated article). The balcony, also known as
> the dress circle, was more expensive. It was understood, although
> never enforced, that one had to be formally dressed in order to
> enter the dress circle. I don't think I ever saw a top hat in the
> dress circle, but I did see suits.
>
> That, however, was in a small country town. When I went to a classy
> theatre in The Big City, I found myself in a place called 'The Gods',
> presumably because it was close to the heavens. It wasn't the
> classy balcony as I had known it, but a spot several hundred metres
> higher than the balcony. I didn't get to see the show, because
> nobody had thought to warn me to bring binoculars.
>
> That, I imagine, is what our American friends are calling the
> peanut gallery.
That would explain it, although I have only experienced the 'gods' in a real
theatre, never in a cinema.
--
Rob Bannister