The Saskatchewan Festival of Words will be held in Moose Jaw on July 13-16 this year. Canadian authors, poets, and musicians will be gathering for readings, discussions, writing workshops, and more. Often one of the events is a Poetry Slam. Such slams are often loud and lively. They are competitive events in which poets perform before a live audience and a panel of judges. Poets are to use original works they have developed but it can turn into an impromptu event. Many say the beginnings of Poetry Slams occurred in Chicago in 1984. However, there is a more ancient version of such things from the island nation of Guam dating back 500 years or more.
Kantan Chamorrita is the contemporary name given to a traditional impromptu call-and-response rhyming debate indigenous to the Mariana Islands. Missionaries to the area in the 17th century observed a poetic debate that took place between clans who gathered to compete in an event like Poetry Slams. Practitioners refer to the happening as ayotte’, meaning to throw back and forth in an impromptu manner.
Impromptu comes from the Latin in promptu, meaning in readiness. This derived from the Latin verb promptu, meaning to bring forth or take out. An impromptu speech is spontaneous and unprepared. An impromptu can also be a noun denoting an actual, unrehearsed speech without planning. The word entered the English language in the 17th century as a noun. In theatre it could be said that although five different lines had been written, the best choice turned out to be an impromptu from the tired actor himself.
Impromptu was most often used as an adjective coming from 18th century French, borrowing the spelling, and meaning. It described an oration, as made, done, or formed on the spur of the moment. An impromptu address is composed or done without previous preparation. He had an uncanny ability to deliver hilarious, impromptu speeches without any planning or advanced notice.
There are some words similar in meaning to impromptu but with subtle differences.
Two of my friends came by unexpectedly, and we had a spontaneous little party in my kitchen. Spontaneous means to act without deliberation, whereas impromptu has a sense of making it up as you go. If you sing an impromptu song, you might have brought an instrument, but you are composing a song on the spot. If you spontaneously burst into song, you might sing a song that people know, but you didn't set up any instruments for it.
Extemporaneous refers to a speech that was practised beforehand but delivered without notes. Impromptu always refers to a speech or action done without planning.
You’ve probably heard the phrase off the cuff as shorthand for something impromptu. In 1936, Charlie Chaplin’s classic film Modern Times featured a scene where Chaplin’s Tramp writes lyrics on his shirt cuffs, only to have the detachable cuffs go flying off once he hits the stage, leaving him to improvise to hilarious effect.
The phrase off the cuff begins in America around the middle of the nineteenth century. Improvements in the machinery of paper production made paper a practical substitute for cloth. Paper shirt fronts, as well as collars and cuffs, owed their commercial success to this technological advance. In 1872 companies produced 150 million disposable shirt collars and cuffs. Men found paper clothing parts convenient because laundry services in those days were unreliable and expensive. They bought replaceable shirt parts in bulk and changed into them whenever the most visible parts of their attire became stained or discoloured. Less than adequate theatre performers became adept at jotting lines on their disposal shirt cuffs that provided spaces for notes. Off the cuff was planned and rehearsed. Its history implies an illusion of impromptu but really was prepared beforehand.
Impromptu was also used in the 19th century for piano compositions intended to produce the illusion of spontaneous improvisation. The name first appeared in 1822 as the title of piano pieces by the Bohemian composer Jan Hugo Voříšek and the German Heinrich Marschner. Interestingly, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, and Beethoven were among those who wrote impromptus.
It makes one wonder if what some claim as an impromptu speech was really planned and rehearsed. Are you ready for the next open mic?
John would like to know if anyone has a sincere interest in a relevant word that he could possibly research for an upcoming column. If so, please send your requests to wordwisdom2021@gmail.com . Words will be selected according to relevance and research criteria. We cannot confirm that all words will be used.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
