Laurel and Hardy

English

Etymology

From the name of a famous American comedy duo from the 1920s and 1930s.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈlɒɹ.əl ænd ˈhɑː.di/, /ˈlɔːɹ.əl ænd ˈhɑː.di/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈlɔɹ.əl ænd ˈhɑɹ.di/

Proper noun

Laurel and Hardy

1. Any duo who are so inept at practical tasks as to be humorous.
   • 2000, Patrick McGilligan, Film Crazy: Interviews with Hollywood Legends‎^[1], page 89:

     We put a Laurel and Hardy thing together. With ordinary actors I've tried this, and it's like playing music without an instrument, but these guys could do anything.

   • 2012, Patrick C. Reidy, A Cocktail of Tales‎^[2], page 14:

     Then about a hundred yards ahead, two men, one rotund the other thin and spare, leaped over a gate onto the road. They had the appearance of a Laurel and Hardy duo.

   • 2012, Richard Martin, SuperFuel: Thorium, the Green Energy Source for the Future‎^[3], page 180:

     The session quickly devolved into a Laurel-and-Hardy skit, as an NRC bureaucrat named Lawrence Kokajko was grilled by the commissioners, particularly Hamilton, a man used to having bureaucrats tremble before him.

   • 2012, The Black & White Photography Book‎^[4]:

     […] when someone has a Laurel and Hardy moment where they slip on a banana skin […]

   • 2013, David Hale Smith, Dallas Noir‎^[5], page 211:

     She was heavy: not fat, but solid, and it looked good on her; still, we must have seemed a Laurel and Hardy match, the two times we would have been observed together in public, me being whichever comedy star was the lanky one.

   • 2014, Paul "Monty" Choy, The Flying Dragon‎^[6], page 45:

     When he got up to answer, I noticed the boy at the other end of the desk was partially standing. This happened every time. So I quietly walked around and noticed that the long bench they were sitting ^[sic] had a leg missing at the end. Sensing a Laurel-and-Hardy situation, I could not resist the temptation.

   • 2014, Keith Scott, The Moose That Roared: The Story of Jay Ward, Bill Scott, a Flying Squirrel, and a Talking Moose‎^[7]:

     Variety (February 22)reported, “Ward and Scott have sketched out plans for the production of Green Hopper, a 30 minute show revolving around a frog, wolf and bear; Simpson and Delaney—a Laurel and Hardy animated duo, and Super Chicken.

Translations

any humorous duo

• Finnish: Majakka ja Perävaunu
• Hungarian: Hacsek és Sajó

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Danish: ^{(please verify)} Gøg og Gokke
• German: ^{(please verify)} Dick und Doof
• Hungarian: (Laurel and Hardy) ^{(please verify)} Stan és Pan
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} Cric e Croc
• Portuguese: ^{(please verify)} O Gordo e o Magro
• Slovak: ^{(please verify)} Laurel a Hardy
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} Helan och Halvan