whoops, there go my trousers

English

WOTD – 16 April 2020

Etymology

A reference to a gag in slapstick comedy theatre plays where a character’s trousers fall to the ground, exposing his underwear, to elicit laughs from the audience.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈʍʊps ðɛː ˈɡəʊ maɪ ˈtɹaʊzəz/, /ˈʍuːps-/, /ˈwʊps-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwʊps ðɛɚ ˈɡoʊ maɪ ˈtɹaʊzɚz/, /ˈʍʊps-/
• Hyphenation: whoops, there go my trou‧sers

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Phrase

whoops, there go my trousers

1. (comedy, theater) Used to describe a genre of farcical theatre plays.
   • 1995 December 29, Chris Wright, “Four Rooms [TV review]”, in The Boston Phoenix, Boston, Mass.: Boston Phoenix, →OCLC, section 3, page 19:

     Four Rooms is the latest attempt to combine multiple directors' skits into one film. It is also an attempt to mix "whoops!-there-go-my-trousers" farce with the slick kitsch pop-art comedy.

   • 1998 June 13, “Carry on up the National”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, weekend edition, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 10, column 1:

     But what's this? A play about a Carry On film by Terry "Whoops, There Go My Trousers" Johnson, the man responsible for the National's revival of The London Cuckolds, an 18th-century version of Run For Your Wife?

   • 2002, Simon Calder, No Frills: The Truth Behind the Low-cost Revolution in the Skies, London: Virgin Books, →ISBN, page 45:

     The bolts have to be opened and closed in the right combination to avoid scenes worthy of a French farce. But I feel less a character in ‘Whoops! There go my trousers’, and more like something miserable by [Samuel] Beckett or [Franz] Kafka about the meaningless of life, and the fatuity of communication.

   • 2009 January 9, Andrea Mullaney, “TV Review: The Life of Riley, The Green Green Grass, Dexter”, in The Scotsman‎^[1], Edinburgh: Scotsman Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 February 2009:

     Instead this relies on the supposedly comical misunderstandings that have been a feature of sitcoms since the 1950s. [...] The children are smart arses, the laughter is canned, the parents befuddled and every line delivered as if they're on stage starring in "Whoops, There Go My Trousers".

Translations

used to describe a genre of farcical theatre plays