Would I find Vaudeville on a map? –P.C., Montreal
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Not unless you’re a really bad speller–although bad spelling is probably what gave us vaudeville in the first place. According to the leading theory, vaudeville derives from vau-de-Vire (valley of Vire), in Calvados, Normandy. Vau-de-Vire was the home of Olivier Basselin, a 15th-century minstrel and writer of satirical songs. A Basselin tune, and later any light popular song, became known as a chanson du vau-de-Vire, “song of the valley of Vire,” shortened to vau-de-Vire. By the mid-16th century, possibly because such tunes had become popular in Paris, the term had been corrupted to vaux de ville or voix de ville, meaning “voice of [the] city.” This has a cool ring to it until you realize that the voice of the city eventually sounded a lot like Milton Berle. By the 18th century, vaudeville had entered English as a term for comic ballad, for comic stage performance, and finally, in the U.S., for variety theater in general.
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Cece? Buddy? I’m pretty sure the galaxy is larger than 90 light-years across. Almost positive, in fact. I’d stake one of my coworker’s lives on it.
