Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Word Origins 13. The word origin today is
cliffhanger. Okay. Let's take a look at the note here.
A cliffhanger is a story or situation in which the film is shown in parts or
segments. So it could have many parts. It could have just two or three parts or
could have 10 parts and at the end of each segment it leaves you... It leaves the
audience in suspense. So that they will be more certain to
want to see the next part. So it leaves you in anticipation. Oh my God. What's
going to happen next. Oh No ! What happened ? What's going to happen ?
So kind of like that. So let's continue. The origin of cliffhanger comes from the
serial films which were popular in the first half of the 20th century. This, this
series was shown in chapters and each part was screened at a movie theater
for a week and the next week would have a continuation. So this was really before
the days that people had TVs in their house. So this was a way that the movie
theater got people to come back every week to watch it. So I remember, I
remember even I think, I think I talked with my father about this. He said that people
will go to the movie theater all day. They'd be there for six or seven hours
during the day. And they'd show a lot of shorts. They show a lot of cartoons and
stuff. But they they showed a lot of films like this with they would show 5 minutes and
then it was a really action part and again people wanted to see it. So this,
this way they would be more encouraged to come back the next week. So now of
course since TV got invented it kind of took away from this but this is what it
originally came from. So let's continue here. This was all done again before the
advent of television. So television wasn't you know , televisions
didn't appear in people's houses until maybe the early 1950s and
then only a few people had them. And it wasn't really until the late 50s or
early 60s that you know, most people started
having TVs. . They were affordable at that time. So of course at the end of each
chapter, the hero or a likable character was left in a perilous, perilous
means dangerous situation. And then you know, they cut it off and they probably
say to be continued. So that's how they would leave you in suspense. Okay. Let's
continue. The term cliffhanger itself did not appear until the mid 1930s and of
course the term alludes to the idea of the hero hanging on to a cliff and, and
cutting it right off at that scene. And then you know leaving the audience in
suspense. I think there were few of the serials I did even see when I was a
kid where that's exactly what happened. The good guy would be fighting the bad
guy. the bad guy would hit him. He'd fall, he just catch on maybe hanging
right on the end. That was your typical idea. That's where the term cliffhanger
came from. Of course, there were a lot of other dangerous situations. I think
another typical one where the bad guy ties up some girl on the railroad tracks
and the Train is coming and then cut it off. Boom !
To be continued. So anything like that was referred to as a cliffhanger. Okay.
So let's just give one example here. The end of part one was a real cliffhanger.
Okay good. Anyway I hope you got it. I hope it's
clear. Thank you for your time. Bye-bye.