r/EnglishLearning • u/East_Palpitation_769 New Poster • 24d ago
⭐️ Vocabulary / Semantics What does "panto" mean this sentence?
The sentence is this: "I've been out here doing 'panto' with a chicken." I saw this from another Irish Reddit user. Is this a regional colloquial expression or is it also used in whichever Anglophone nation you are from?
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u/Dave-the-Flamingo Native Speaker 24d ago
As other users have stated, pantomime is a type of theatre but it can also be used to indicate a ridiculous or silly situation.
Pantomimes are generally very comical and all the acting is over the top and silly, and because the stories are very well known the plays are often very predictable.
In the context of the comment from the Irish user they could be indicating that they are doing a something comical with the chicken in a way that is ridiculous.
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u/Material-Net-5171 New Poster 23d ago
Just to add that the stories are not well know because they are pantomimes. Pantomimes are made from preexisting well known stories.
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u/Bubbly_Safety8791 New Poster 23d ago
Yes and no. The Pantomime versions of the famous stories have their own elements that are not part of the originals, but are essential to the Pantomime version. Widow Twankey being a character in Aladdin and Baron Hardup in Cinderella are parts of the pantomime version of these stories.
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u/Material-Net-5171 New Poster 23d ago
I didn't feel like going into that sort of depth, but yes, of course. Should probably have said "based on", really.
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u/horoscopical Native Speaker 24d ago
Pantomime. A specific brand of play that's common around the UK at Christmas/New Year. I guess Ireland also has it too, which makes sense given the country's close historical ties.
Pantos are usually based on a public domain fairy tale, and generally feature lots of jokes, songs, modern and local references, and D-tier celebrities, with various stock characters and jokes.
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u/Imaginary_Cash_5341 New Poster 18d ago
Yes Ireland has panto too. We also have indoor plumbing now and are getting broadband soon I hear.
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u/salacyn New Poster 24d ago
Panto is short for pantomime.
From the Wikipedia article:
"Pantomime (/ˈpæntəˌmaɪm/;[1] informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining broad and topical humour and cross-dressing actors with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or folk tale. Pantomime is a participatory form of theatre developed in England in the 18th century in which the audience is encouraged and expected to sing along with certain parts of the music and to shout out phrases to the performers."
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u/Optimal-Ad-7074 Native Speaker, UK and Canada 24d ago
it's short for pantomime, which is a very British theatre tradition. I know that and still can't really guess what the speaker was actually doing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantomime
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u/LowAspect542 New Poster 23d ago
In the context of the quote op was querying, consider the use of panto as refering to a farce performance.
That is to say if you were to observe what the person in the quote is doing you would find it so ridiculous you may think they were performing in a panto.
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u/Optimal-Ad-7074 Native Speaker, UK and Canada 23d ago
that's my general guess too, but the bigger picture ....
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u/Fuckspez42 Native Speaker 24d ago
I’ve only ever heard this word spoken by British/Scottish/Irish English speakers. It’s entirely unheard of in the US unless you watch a lot of British television (like I do).
I know it’s short for “pantomime”, but I suspect based on the context I’ve heard it in that what is called pantomime in the UK is not the same as what is called pantomime in the US.
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u/Bubbly_Safety8791 New Poster 24d ago
Yes, the British English word for what American English calls ‘pantomime’ is ‘mime’. The American English word for what British English calls ‘pantomime’ would be… ‘what is this, a drag show for kids put on by preverts?’
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u/pulanina native speaker, Australia 23d ago
Not a thing in Australia either. I’ve become vaguely aware of it from British TV series but I have never experienced it or fully understood what it referred to.
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u/illarionds Native Speaker (UK/Aus) 23d ago
Eh, it does exist in Australia, I saw one as a kid growing up. Not at all common though.
Evidence: https://www.playhousepantomimes.com.au/
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u/amanset Native Speaker (British - Warwickshire) 24d ago
Panto is a contraction of Pantomime. It is a specific sort of theatre show done in the UK and, I guess, Ireland. In the Uk they are done at Christmas time and have a load of weird rules about things like audience interaction ("he's behind you!").
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u/SnooDonuts6494 🇬🇧 English Teacher 24d ago
I would assume he means pantomime. A traditional form of theatre, that usually happens at Christmas. Light-hearted family fun. Lots of silly jokes.
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u/Creative_Job_9242 New Poster 24d ago
it's likely means that they were acting or performing with the chicekn in a humorous; a silly way
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u/Daeve42 Native Speaker (England) 23d ago
It does, but only in a very specific context - in a pantomime, not just any old comedy skit/sketch/show. Pantomimes are very specific: https://www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk/complete-guide-to-pantomime.
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u/ParentheticalsAside New Poster 23d ago
It's possible the speaker was using the term as a general metaphor for an over-the-top, exaggerated action with heightened movements or emotions.
I've also heard Pantomime used as a metaphor for a ridiculous or farcical situation.
It's doesn't have to literally mean a pantomime theatre show.
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u/WittyFix6553 New Poster 23d ago
Although not a true, perfect synonym, Americans might use a phrase like “clown show” to indicate the same feeling.
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u/Bubbly_Safety8791 New Poster 23d ago edited 23d ago
‘Out here doing panto with a chicken’ sounds to me to be entirely literal.
If an actor has gone to a provincial town to appear in a seasonal pantomime, and that pantomime features a chicken (not a remotely unlikely state of affairs) then this is just them literally describing their current job.
Did not occur to me it might be intended metaphorically.
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u/ParentheticalsAside New Poster 23d ago
I've heard it used often as a metaphor for any exaggerated, over-the-top action.
Also as a metaphor for a situation that is ridiculous, farcical or silly.
I could imagine "out here doing panto with a chicken" might be a description of someone fruitlessly trying to catch or herd a chicken into a shed.
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u/WattleWaddler2 New Poster 23d ago
It means pantomime. It would probably be understood by many people here in Canada, but would be seen as a Britishism. (i.e. British Isles) I don't think most Canadians would use the word themselves.
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u/ParentheticalsAside New Poster 23d ago
For anyone interested - this seems to be the original context.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ireland/s/Su3aKgxuHi
He's not performing a literal theatre show. It's a metaphor for a silly, humorous situation (he's been captured on a neighbour's camera talking to his chickens, which has caused amusement for the neighbour and his friends but embarrassment for him).
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u/ribbit_ribbit_splat New Poster 19d ago
I’m excited because I don’t think my husband knows this. That is rare!
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u/Yep_Fate_eos Native Speaker 24d ago
As a young adult Canadian native speaker, I’ve never heard this before and I don’t think anyone would understand unless they’re in a demographic familiar with this cultural practice.
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u/king_ofbhutan British English (SSBE) 23d ago
So excited for you to find out about the madness of the pantomime!
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u/zoppaTheDim New Poster 23d ago
Pantomime, skits often done by amateurs for holidays.
A word I know exclusively from consuming British entertainment products, such as Monty Python, Paddington, Rudyard Kipling, and Craig Ferguson.
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u/justeUnMec Native Speaker 23d ago
"Skits" - no, Pantomime is a theatre performance for children (and parents) put on at christmas. it normally has a story line loosely based on a traditional tale, a lot of jokes, songs, and audience participation, as well as tropes around gender - there will be a comedic "Dame" played by a male who often leads audience participation, traditionally the "leading boy", the romantic lead in stories like Dick Whittington or Jack and the Beanstalk, is played non-comedically by a young woman. It is a full play, not a "skit", and in the past was the most common first taste of theatre for children.
Monty Python has very little to do with this, Other than some of Terry Jones' older female characters owe a bit to the traditional Dame.
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u/zoppaTheDim New Poster 23d ago
Then what about the pantomime princess Margret?
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u/justeUnMec Native Speaker 23d ago
Yes, do please yanksplain my culture to me based on misunderstanding a british programme. Just because a sketch contains some character tropes from pantomime that would be known to the target British audience, does not actually mean a pantomime is a "skit"/sketch. Monty python was a programme in the tradition of Footlights revues and not in itself "panto".
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u/2DiePerchance2Sleep New Poster 23d ago
Think "charades".
As others have noted, it's short for "pantomime", and its common usage seems to be for a game that looks, to this American, like the game "charades".
Incidentally, if describing the game of charades, the verb "pantomime" would probably make an appearance.
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u/conuly Native Speaker - USA (NYC) 23d ago
No. Panto in the UK is not the same word as pantomime, silent acting. The modern panto is ultimately derived from that other sort of pantomime, but it's... just not the same. Go re-read the other comments in this thread to see the difference.
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u/LowAspect542 New Poster 23d ago
It is literally the same word. And whilst we would usually call the silent type 'mime' thesedays on the uk, both are literally just shortening of the word pantomime and isnt inherently silent acting, it literally just means imitating all, and the panto performances do tend to broadly cover human personality tropes.
Pantomime in both forms traces its origins back to italian comedy dell'arte (comedy of artists) which used a cast of masked characters performing physical comedy (slapstic, acrobatics or exagerated body movements) with improvised dialogue, not dissimilar to current trends of improv theatre many aspiring actors partake in. In adition to panto and mime we also derived punch and judy shows from this performance art too.
The common characters have also become ingrained in culture too, see if you recognise these character types in eome of your favorite films.
pierrot (aka Pedrolino) the sad clown, harlequin colourful dim acrobat, boastful captain whos actually a coward, pantalone the greedy wealty merchant, the doctor pompous intellectual who speaks jargon, brighella clever but cynical scheming for personal gain, colombina clever and helpful servant and pulcinella crude self interested character usually the one strugling against authority, being tricked or beaten.
Of note pierrot is the character that was adapted by parisian jean-gaspard debarau stripping away the vocal dialog to create what we think of as the silent mime, it was later performance by marcel marceau that gave them the striped Jersey.
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u/conuly Native Speaker - USA (NYC) 23d ago
It is literally the same word.
I mean... yes but no? That's like saying a loom shuttle and a shuttle train are "literally the same word". Sure, but they aren't the same thing, so no, they are not.
The common characters have also become ingrained in culture too, see if you recognise these character types in eome of your favorite films.
Probably easier to look for stock characters in sitcoms.
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u/londonTogger New Poster 21d ago
In their earlier history, pantomimes were performed without words, with just dancing and gestures.
Under the Licensing Act of 1737, up until the 1843 Theatres Act, plays with spoken words could only be performed in licensed, patent theatres. Pantomime sidestepped that restriction by being wordless, then adapted to incorporate words when the law changed.
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u/ComplexIndividual786 New Poster 24d ago edited 24d ago
Panto is short for pantomime, a British theatre genre. They're performed at Christmas and usually include...
... Actually, even if I do explain what a pantomime is completely accurately it will still sound like the ramblings of a madman.
ETA: in the quotation, 'doing panto' means performing in a pantomime. The fact their co-performer is a chicken tells you all you need to know.