the.com/stooge
A sidekick hired specifically so someone else can look smart by comparison.
means A person who plays the fall guy, dupe, or subordinate role so someone else gets the laughs or the credit.
from Shows up in American theater and vaudeville slang in the early 20th century, naming the straight man or butt of a comedian's jokes onstage. Nobody has pinned down exactly where it came from — it just surfaces fully formed in backstage lingo — though it may be tied to older slang for an assistant or flunky. From there it slid into talk of dupes and lackeys in crime stories, and eventually into the general word we use now for anyone set up to take the fall or make someone else look good.
- origin
- 1930s vaudeville slang for a comedian's foil
- modern use
- now means puppet for someone else's agenda
- key trait
- takes the hit, never gets the credit
- three stooges
- named themselves after the insult, proudly