laughing stock

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Alternative spellings 1.2 Etymology 1.3 Noun 1.3.1 Synonyms 1.3.2 Related terms 1.3.3 Translations

[edit] English

[edit] Alternative spellings

• laughingstock, laughing-stock

[edit] Etymology

• laughing + stock. Thought to originate from the time when stocks were used to punish and humiliate petty criminals.

[edit] Noun

laughing stock (plural laughing stocks)

1. (idiomatic) An object of ridicule, someone who is publicly ridiculed; a butt of sport.
   • c. 1598, William Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, act 3, sc. 1:

     Pray you let us not be

     laughing-stocks to other men's humours.

   • 1856, Lord Macaulay, contribution to Encyclopedia Britannica on Oliver Goldsmith:

     When he talked, he talked nonsense, and made himself the laughing-stock of his hearers.

   • 2004, Judy Battista, "Pro Football: NFL Matchups, Week 1," New York Times, 12 Sep. (retrieved 19 Apr. 2009):

     If anyone can restore dignity to a franchise that has been close to a laughing stock in the last few years, it's Gibbs.

[edit] Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:laughingstock

[edit] Related terms

• butt of the joke

[edit] Translations