Mummer?

[Morbius]

This word cost me a rosette in yesterday's 10 letter puzzle.  I'd never heard it before (having never been to a pantomime).  It's certainly not a common word to me, although I note that 102 players got it.  What do others think?   

[Valerie]

Definitely not in my lexicon, M.  Also cost me a rosette.  But you learn something every day!
Val

[cmh]

I have never been to a panto but I know the word from village fete type activities.To me mummers are a variation on morris dancers but the power of Wikepedia tells me that they are more actors than dancers.

[blackrockrose]

I went to see a hilarious farce a couple of weeks ago, put on by a local rural troupe called The Moonan Mummers, centred on a little village called Moonan Flat in the Barrington Tops (our local 'mountain' range). It's definitely in my vocabulary.

[yelnats]

I was one of the 102 who got it, and had a vague idea that it was connected to pantos/minstrel type things. I've probably never used the word.

[Jacki]

It's up there with signally, slangy and unary - not common to me. But like Valerie says another word to add to the vocab thanks to Chi. I would class it as rare however. i don't think these words cost us a rosette - not knowing them does.

[mkenuk]

I had heard the word - I had a vague idea it was something to do with Morris Dancing.
Surprised it was common.
I was also surprised by emeritus being common in the summertime game. A word I remember from University where we had both an emeritus professor of English and a regius professor of English.
Coincidentally, regius had come in the discourage game the day before, but was 'uncommon'.

[Katzmeow]

I came across mummer in an old book in which the main characters were passionate about English folk dancing.  Apparently when done by those who know about such things, it includes all sorts of traditional, folk characters and occurences.  So not just dancing, not just acting, but the telling of old stories through both.  That's what I gleaned from the book. 

[rogue_mother]

The word mummer is well known to me through multiple contexts. It's not an everyday word, but it strikes me as one that a reasonably well-read speaker of English should be familiar with.

The city of Philadelphia has an annual New Year's Day parade called the Mummer's Parade, whose fame extends beyond the city. (No, I have never lived in or near Philadelphia.) Here is an article about the medieval roots of this celebration.

[birdy]

I grew up near Philadelphia, so I'm very familiar with the term.  I think I may have even gone to one Mummers' Parade when I was very little - all I can remember is being dressed up in winter clothes and standing on the street watching people march by.  I don't even remember the costumes.  But we certainly heard about it every year, even after I moved to New York.  I think of it as the Philadelphia equivalent of New York's Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.

I've also seen the term in some of the historical novels I've read - ones set in medieval England, I think.

[Alan W]

I had the impression mummer was reasonably well-known, though I think I'd only ever run into the word in books. Mummers featured in one of the Ngaio Marsh mystery novels, and I think they were in a Thomas Hardy novel I read.

However, it seems from the comments here that quite a few players don't know the word. It does appear from time to time in news media, mainly in connection with specific locations, such as Philadelphia, as mentioned by RM and birdy, and in various places in England, Ireland, Canada, etc. An article on the Canadian CBC website last year was headed "The dark side of mummering: What you may not know about a beloved tradition" and dealt with mummers in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Probably the use of the word mummer is not widespread enough for it to remain as common. The same applies to mummery, which has also been a common word up till now. Both will be classed as rare in future.

[Jacki]

Good call Alan. I guess from all the updates that whilst mummer, unary and signally are all now rare, that slangy is still common?

[Alan W]

I don't see slangy as such a clear-cut case, Jacki, so it will remain as is for now.