end man
- noun
- /ɛnd mæn/
- Archaic
:
hombre de extremo
- In the famous troupe, the end man always got the biggest laughs with his jokes.
Examples
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Historians have extensively analyzed the role of the end man in nineteenth-century minstrel shows.
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In the minstrel show, the end man often engages with the audience.
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The end man wore brightly colored costumes to distinguish himself from other performers.
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The end man delivered the funniest jokes during the performance.
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In the famous troupe, the end man always got the biggest laughs with his jokes.
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The end man wore brightly colored costumes to distinguish himself from other performers.
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In the minstrel show, the end man often engages with the audience.
Synonyms
A man in old minstrel shows who sits at one end of performers and makes jokes with the main speaker
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally composes 'end' + 'man' so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a man positioned at an end. However, the specific theatrical/minstrel role and its comic, interlocutor function are culturally specialized and not predictable from the constituents alone, so full understanding requires prior exposure.
Etymology
End man comes from old minstrel shows where performers sat in a line and the person at the end would speak, joke, or play a comic role, so the man at that end often got the laughs. That's why it means 'a man who performs at one end of the line of performers'.
