Show business
For other uses, see Show business (disambiguation).
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Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since ca. 1945),[1] is a vernacular term for all aspects of entertainment, especially light entertainment.[1] The word applies to all aspects of the entertainment industry from the business side (including managers, agents, producers and distributors) to the creative element (including artists, performers, writers, musicians and technicians). The term was in common usage throughout the 20th century, but the first known use in print dates from 1850.[2] [3] [4] At that time and for several decades it always included an initial the.[1] By the latter part of the century it had acquired a slightly arcane quality associated with the era of variety, but the term is still in active use.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Oxford English Dictionary 2nd Ed. (1989)
- ↑ The term is used to describe any and every aspect of the entertainment industry, with the "show" being the forms of entertainment, and "business" being the goings on behind the scenes of those entertainment events
- ↑ http://variety.com/static-pages/slanguage-dictionary/#s
- ↑ T. Ford (1850) Peep behind Curtain vii. 26 (cited by the OED)
See also
- Cultural industry
- Cultural technology
- Light entertainment
- Creative industries
- List of show business families
- Outline of entertainment
- This Is Show Business, television series running from 1949 to 1956
- Show Business® magazine, since 1941
- There's No Business Like Show Business