# origin of def. of "ham" as an overactor

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-def-of-ham-as-an-overactor/188782>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 16, 2003, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-def-of-ham-as-an-overactor/188782 "2003-07-16T01:37:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Navin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Navin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Navin)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-def-of-ham-as-an-overactor/188782/1 "2003-07-16T01:37:45Z")

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What is the origin of the definition of ‘ham’ as someone who overacts or exaggerates?

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-def-of-ham-as-an-overactor/188782/2 "2003-07-16T01:45:23Z")

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[Ham:](http://www.word-detective.com/061300.html#ham)

> [@](#):
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> Unfortunately, no one knows exactly where “ham,” meaning an inept, usually grossly melodramatic, actor comes from. We do know that the term “ham” first appeared in the mid-19th century meaning “clumsy and stupid fellow,” and acquired its theatrical meaning later, around 1881.

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**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-def-of-ham-as-an-overactor/188782/3 "2003-07-16T16:07:19Z")

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I don’t have a cite, but I’m pretty sure I read this somewhere.  
Apparently the joke (?) about the bad/overly dramatic actor doing the soliliquy from Hamlet goes way back. This is where the term supposedly comes from.

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**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-def-of-ham-as-an-overactor/188782/4 "2003-07-16T16:49:52Z")

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According to [Merriam-Webster](http://www.m-w.com), it’s short for “hamfatter”, from _The Ham-fat Man_, a minstrel song. This would be definition 3: “a showy performer, especially: an actor performing in an exaggerated theatrical style”. One presumes that the Ham-fat Man in the minstrel show was played in such a style.

Imagine that–my first guess would have been that it was derived from “ham-handed”, meaning “clumsy”. We learn something new every day.