What is Grammelot???
The show is performed in Grammelot; a universal gibberish language first
developed by traveling jesters, troubadours and minstrels during medieval
times. It consists of a few real words from different languages, and lots
of nonsense sounds in between. Grammelot could cut through the many language
barriers that existed back in the days of isolated villages and hamlets.
In those days, before mass media, far more languages were spoken. This
serves Alexander today since he frequently performs abroad.
A second use of Grammelot was to evade censorship. Before the days of
newspapers, townsfolk depended heavily on the traveling jesters, bards,
and troubadours for the news of the 'outside world' (everyplace else).
If an authority or censor took exception to his message, the jester could
claim he meant something else entirely since he avoided using recognizable
language.
A Glossary to Alexander's Version of
Grammelot...
co yo yo - curly or twisted.
It is also used in slang to mean 'wow' since jesters prefer things that
are twisted and bent
hodio tonada - an exclamation
of surprise like "woah, check it out!"
Waga dee bwa - I am
Waga da bala - He is
Kafuggo! - darn it!
bo-whoo - (low voice) the
big one
wuh hoo - the medium one
eee oo - (pronounced in
a high voice) the little one
bweesta - fish
galeggwi - up
jiffa - middle
peet - down
Basnop ka dipple yadda yadda - rather than try
to fix the problem, just validate my feelings
Kafuggo! Snippa blop! -
But I'm just trying to help, damn it!