Chestnut (joke)

Chestnut (joke)

Chestnut is a British slang term for an old joke, often as old chestnut. The term is also used for a piece of music in the repertoire that has grown stale or hackneyed with too much repetition.

A plausible explanation for the term given by the Oxford English Dictionary is that it originates for a play named "The Broken Sword" by William Dimond[1], in which one character keeps repeating the same stories, one of them about a cork tree, and is interrupted each time by another character who says: Chestnut, you mean . . . I have heard you tell the joke twenty-seven times and I am sure it was a chestnut.

The play was first performed in 1816, but the term did not come into widespread usage until the 1880s.

See also

References

  1. ^ World Wide Words: "Chestnut"



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Chestnut (disambiguation) — Chestnut is a genus of deciduous tree and shrub species Castanea. The name also refers to the edible nut these trees produce. Chestnut (also chesnut) may also refer to: In architecture: Chestnut Lodge, historic building in Rockville, Maryland… …   Wikipedia

  • chestnut — 1560s, from chesten nut (1510s), from M.E. chasteine, from O.Fr. chastain (12c., Mod.Fr. chátaigne), from L. castanea chestnut, chestnut tree, from Gk. kastaneia, which the Greeks thought meant either nut from Castanea in Pontus, or nut from… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Chestnut — Chest nut, n. [For chesten nut; OE. chestein, chesten, chastein, chestnut, fr. AS. cisten in cistenbe[ a]m chestnut tree, influenced by OF. chastaigne, F. ch[^a]taigne, both the AS. and the F. words coming from L. castanea a chestnut, Gr. ?, fr.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Chestnut tree — Chestnut Chest nut, n. [For chesten nut; OE. chestein, chesten, chastein, chestnut, fr. AS. cisten in cistenbe[ a]m chestnut tree, influenced by OF. chastaigne, F. ch[^a]taigne, both the AS. and the F. words coming from L. castanea a chestnut, Gr …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • chestnut — ► NOUN 1) a glossy hard brown nut which develops within a bristly case and can be roasted and eaten. 2) (also sweet chestnut or Spanish chestnut) the large tree that produces these nuts. 3) a deep reddish brown colour. 4) a horse of a reddish… …   English terms dictionary

  • joke — [n1] fun, quip antic, bon mot, buffoonery, burlesque, caper, caprice, chestnut*, clowning, drollery, epigram, escapade, farce, frolic, gag, gambol, game, ha ha*, hoodwinking*, horseplay*, humor, jape, jest, lark, laugh, mischief, monkeyshine*,… …   New thesaurus

  • chestnut — [ches′nut΄, chest′nut΄] n. [< chesten nut < ME chesteine < OFr chastaigne < L castanea < Gr kastaneia] 1. the smooth shelled, sweet, edible nut of any of a genus (Castanea) of trees of the beech family 2. the tree that it grows on… …   English World dictionary

  • chestnut — chestnutty, adj. /ches nut , neuht/, n. 1. any of the several deciduous trees constituting the genus Castanea, of the beech family, having toothed, oblong leaves and bearing edible nuts enclosed in a prickly bur, and including C. dentata… …   Universalium

  • chestnut — [[t]tʃe̱snʌt[/t]] chestnuts 1) N COUNT A chestnut or chestnut tree is a tall tree with broad leaves. → See also horse chestnut 2) N COUNT Chestnuts are the reddish brown nuts that grow on chestnut trees. You can eat chestnuts. 3) COLOUR Something …   English dictionary

  • chestnut — chest|nut [ tʃes,nʌt ] noun 1. ) count a large smooth red brown nut that you can eat: roast chestnuts chestnut stuffing 2. ) chestnut or chestnut tree count a tall tree with large wide leaves that produces chestnuts a ) uncount the wood of a… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”