the.com/tomfoolery
Mischief with a résumé, too silly to be a crime, too gleeful to stop.
means Silly, playful misbehavior or nonsense — the harmless kind of goofing around that annoys no one who matters.
from Built from 'Tom Fool,' a generic name used since medieval times for a stock fool or simpleton — much like 'Tom, Dick, and Harry' stood for 'anyone at all.' 'Tom Fool' drifted into its own word for a buffoon, and by the 1800s English speakers had tacked on '-ery' to name the behavior such a character gets up to: foolery with a Tom attached, mischief with a mascot.
- origin
- from medieval name Thomas Fool, a stock idiot
- vibe
- implies harmless, almost proud, absurdity
- usage
- favored by principals, grandparents, and disappointed judges
- synonym tier
- shenanigans younger, less litigious sibling