Double-talk explained

Double-talk is a form of speech in which inappropriate, invented, or nonsense words are interpolated into normal speech to give the appearance of knowledge, and thus confuse or amuse the audience.

It developed out of dialect comedy and became popular in the first half of the 20th century, especially in English-speaking vaudeville and music halls. Comedians who have used this as part of their act include Al Kelly, Danny Kaye, Gary Owens, Irwin Corey, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Lewis, Sid Caesar,^[1] Stanley Unwin, Reggie Watts,^[2] Vanessa Bayer^[3] and Mario "Cantinflas" Moreno Reyes. For example, in his talk on music, "Populode of the Musicolly", Stanley Unwin says:^[4]

It has also been used in films, for example Charlie Chaplin's character in The Great Dictator, many of Danny Kaye's patter songs, and Willie Solar's screeching singing in Diamond Horseshoe (1945).

See also

• Bloviation
• Gibberish and gobbledygook
• Jabberwocky
• Doublethink
• Doublespeak
• Prisencolinensinainciusol
• Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
• Technobabble

Notes and References

1. News: Dobuzinskis . Alex . Comic legend Sid Caesar dies at 91 . . 12 February 2014. 2014-02-13. "Some of Caesar's most popular bits were built around pompous or outlandish characters - such as Professor von Votsisnehm - in which he spoke in a thick accent or mimicked foreign languages in comic but convincing gibberish.".
2. Web site: Watts. Reggie. Reggie Watts at TEDx Berlin. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/Y7IxzpB-UMM . 2021-12-13 . live. TEDx Berlin. 5 December 2013 . TEDx, Youtube. 19 January 2014.
3. Web site: Bayer. Vanessa. Weekend Update: Dawn Lazarus. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/itYFTh8hPfA . 2021-12-13 . live. Weekend Update Weather Report. 6 May 2017 . Saturday Night Live,Youtube. 7 May 2017.
4. Book: Elliott . Richard . The Sound of Nonsense . 28 December 2017 . Bloomsbury Publishing USA . 978-1-5013-2456-7 . en.