Corpsing

What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘corpsing’? Dead bodies?
 
Does live theatre come to mind?
 
The origins of the word ‘corpsing’ are unknown. However, the most likely origins are live theatre productions, notably tragedies or murder mysteries.
 
What do you think would happen if an actor laying on stage after being ‘murdered’ suddenly sneezed? Or coughed? Or laughed? Sometimes actors have been known to try and make a ‘dead’ actor laugh. Sometimes actors will simply flub or forget their lines and break into uncontrolled giggling.
 
Quite likely, in such a case, people on stage and in the audience begin to giggle or laugh as well. 
 
In British theatre jargon, corpsing means ‘breaking character’. An actor who is corpsing is no longer in their role.
 
Image: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_42nWRz_C5E&ab_channel=NationalTheatre
 
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
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