Meanings
- UKderogatorynot comparableusuallyPertaining to a bawdy, old-fashioned style of broad comedy.
The production employed the John Barry Seven to re-work the songs of Gilbert & Sullivan, setting them against the dancing of Lionel Blair, with eye-rolling, end-of-the-pier jokes from Mike and Bernie Winters and Tommy Cooper.
2009, Christopher Fowler, Paperboy, Random House, →ISBN, page 1802 more examples
Meanwhile, that butt of the end-of-the-pier comedian's joke, the mother-in-law as dictatorial hag, has become a figure associated with nostalgia for the days when workingmen's clubs were just that (and, indeed, marking a time when generations were forced to live cheek-by-jowl in the same household).
1999, Andrew Blaikie, Ageing and Popular Culture, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 156It seems a simple yes or no question, but actually compresses a complex group of ideas - about sexuality, gender, meaning and the figurative history of sculpture - into something you might expect from an end-of-the-pier comedy routine.
2002, Frieze: Contemporary Art and Culture
Origin
A reference to the pleasure piers in British seaside resorts, which often featured music hall entertainment and were popular working-class holiday locations.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
end-of-the-pier. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/end-of-the-pier
“end-of-the-pier.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/end-of-the-pier. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “end-of-the-pier,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/end-of-the-pier.
Source: end-of-the-pier on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.