The story
- Italian · calque ofbatacchio
- English todayslapstick
From slap + stick, calque of Italian batacchio. The pair of sticks was used by the comic character Harlequin in the commedia dell'arte.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
slapstick
Today it means: A style of humor focusing on physical comedy, such as slipping on a banana peel, and with foolish characters who get into humiliating situations. Full definition →
Italian batacchio