Who Is ‘Tom’ of ‘Tomfoolery’?

The comedy world is riddled with riotous Toms, including Tom Segura and Tom Smothers (of the Smothers Brothers). But as funny as these comedians’ antics are, the general concept of tomfoolery is even goofier. Merriam-Webster defines “tomfoolery” as “playful or foolish behavior,” a usage that originated around 1812. But the tale of “tomfoolery” began centuries earlier, back in the Middle Ages.

In the 14th century, the name “Thome Fole” referred to a court jester performing at the Durham Abbey in northern England. It’s unclear if “Thome Fole” was the performer’s given or stage name, or simply a generic moniker applied to jesters and other silly-minded court performers of the time.

We do know that as Middle English evolved into Modern English in the mid-17th century, the spelling of “Thome Fole” became “tomfool.” At first, “tomfool” was primarily used as a noun referring to “a great fool,” but by the mid-18th century it came to be used as an adjective meaning “extremely foolish,” as in “that was a tomfool stunt.”

By 1812, a new word was coined based on those earlier related terms: “tomfoolery.” In English, an “-ery” suffix can establish a few things in a noun. It can indicate the general character of something (“snobbery”), an art or practice (“trickery”), a place for doing something (“bakery”), or a collection of something (“greenery”). In the case of “tomfoolery,” it emphasizes a state of someone or something behaving foolishly. 

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The Oxford English Dictionary points to an 1812 citation in a book of parodies titled Rejected Addresses by English authors James and Horace Smith: “Round let us bound for this is Punch’s holiday, Glory to Tomfoolery, huzza! huzza!” It wasn’t long before “tomfoolery” superseded “tomfool” as the preferred terminology. We see it reflect the same meaning in Harper’s Magazine in 1883 (“There was contemptuous chuckling at the sentimental tomfoolery of philanthropic busybodies”) and in The Guardian in 2015 (“It’s no wonder that tickets for their sketches, anecdotes, and general tomfoolery are selling out”).