grammelot

plural grammelots · alternative gromalot

1. countableuncountableA style of language used in satirical theater: a gibberish with macaronic and onomatopoeic elements, used in association with mime and mimicry.

   Actually, much of “Mistero Buffo” doesn't require translation and indeed is untranslatable: Mr. Fo speaks in “grammelot,” a kind of polyglot gabble speckled with an occasional intelligible word.

   1986 May 25, Scott Rosenberg, “Dario Fo, Italy's Political Clown, Pays a Visit”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   2 more examples

   Then, dashing in and out of guises, using his expressive face and body and speaking in grammelot so that everyone can understand him, he might improvise. That would surely be a Nobel first, like the winner himself.

   1997 October 15, Mel Gussow, “The Not-So-Accidental Recognition of an Anarchist”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   The language sounds random – “moot moot” and the rest – but it’s actually quite precise. Theatrically, it’s like Grammelot, a technique that has been used in theatre and commedia dell’arte for hundreds of years.

   2016 January 11, David Sant, “How we made Pingu”, in The Guardian