to play the Merry Andrew
- idiom
- Archaic
:
hacer el payaso
- Yesterday, Mark played the Merry Andrew just to cheer up the children at the hospital.
Examples
-
She often plays the Merry Andrew when the atmosphere gets too serious at work.
-
Don't play the Merry Andrew at the meeting!
-
During the party, Tom decided to play the Merry Andrew and had everyone laughing at his jokes.
-
He always plays the Merry Andrew during family gatherings.
-
During the party, Tom decided to play the Merry Andrew and had everyone laughing at his jokes.
-
She often plays the Merry Andrew when the atmosphere gets too serious at work.
-
Yesterday, Mark played the Merry Andrew just to cheer up the children at the hospital.
Synonyms
37
3.0
To behave in a silly way to make people laugh
9
4.8
To act silly and playful to make people laugh
7
4.6
Act in a silly way to make others laugh or avoid being serious
3
8.0
To behave in a silly or embarrassing way to get attention
1
8.1
To play and joke in a silly way and sometimes cause trouble
How Clownish
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase relies on the fixed idiom 'Merry Andrew' meaning a buffoon or clownish person; the literal words 'merry' (cheerful) and the proper name 'Andrew' do not transparently yield that sense. This is a lexicalized, somewhat archaic idiom, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words would very likely not infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Play the Merry Andrew may come from old street shows where the Merry Andrew was a clown-like helper who joked and made the crowd laugh. So, to play the Merry Andrew means 'to act like a clown and make people laugh'.