Interesting. Maybe not “complicated,” per se, but it’s not an etymology I was familiar with. When you think of vaudeville hecklers throwing stuff at the stage aren’t tomatoes the usual stereotype?...
Interesting. Maybe not “complicated,” per se, but it’s not an etymology I was familiar with. When you think of vaudeville hecklers throwing stuff at the stage aren’t tomatoes the usual stereotype? Peanuts make sense too but I hadn’t heard of that before.
The racist aspect isn’t surprising, apart from the fact that these vaudeville shows were often also minstrel shows, were they not? If a show is based around ridiculing an ethnic group, I wouldn’t expect members of that group to also be in the audience. But who knows. Maybe it was like the humiliated nerd grinning and laughing along with bully who just wedgied him, because he has no other power in the situation.
Interesting. Maybe not “complicated,” per se, but it’s not an etymology I was familiar with. When you think of vaudeville hecklers throwing stuff at the stage aren’t tomatoes the usual stereotype? Peanuts make sense too but I hadn’t heard of that before.
The racist aspect isn’t surprising, apart from the fact that these vaudeville shows were often also minstrel shows, were they not? If a show is based around ridiculing an ethnic group, I wouldn’t expect members of that group to also be in the audience. But who knows. Maybe it was like the humiliated nerd grinning and laughing along with bully who just wedgied him, because he has no other power in the situation.