It's Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 18th.
Today's word is tomfoolery, spelled as one word, T-O-M-F-O-O-L-E-R-Y.
Tomfoolery is a noun.
It's a word with an old-fashioned sound to it that refers to playful or silly behavior.
Here's the word used in a sentence from the London Evening Standard by Martha Alexander.
Children aged seven and older are invited to be part of some musical mischief with the BBC Concert Orchestra and star percussionist Colin Curry,
not to mention the world premiere of the Bino Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra.
Actors and animation will also play a part, and there's plenty of audience participation too.
Prepare for charming Tom Foolery and the perfect first foray into classical music.
The word Tom Foolery owes a debt to one Tom Foll, but just who that Mr. Foll was is unclear.
A court jester identified as Tom Foll was employed at Dora Maby in the 14th century,
but the record is unclear about whether Tom Foll was the given name of this particular performer,
or if the name was applied as a generic moniker to gestures.
Regardless, tomfool eventually evolved into tomfool,
which was used as a noun referring to any notable fool by the early 17th century,
and as an adjective describing such fools by the mid-18th century.
Tomfoolery as a term for playful or foolish behavior didn't come into use until the early 19th century,
but it's proven to be of far more use to English speakers than tomfool.
With your Word of the Day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.