Frammis

Al Kelly, leading expert on frammis, on The Jimmy Dean Show

Rare glimpse of a frammis in the wild in Episode 0804

Frammis, also spelled framis or framus, is a nonsense word which originated in vaudeville comedy routines. The term was particularly associated with 1930s double talk comedian Al Kelly, sometimes identified as its originator but definitely the leading practitioner.

While other double talkers tended to speak rapid fire nonsense syllables, Kelly's technique was to insert his invented words into sensible sentences, delivered at a reasonable pace, and "frammis" could be any kind of device or technical term. When later appearing on radio and television (like Candid Camera), he was often introduced as a professor or expert. He appeared on the October 1, 1964 broadcast of The Jimmy Dean Show, identified as a musicologist, to discuss country music, although he neither invoked frammis nor met Rowlf.

By 1940, "Frammis" surfaced in print comic strips as a nonsense name, used in Ernie Bushmiller's Fritzi Ritz and Nancy and for nearly every name in Silly Milly. Eventually, frammis would be listed in dictionaries as a term for double talk or nonsense in itself.

References

• Oscar the Grouch, in Sesame Street Episode 0840, struggles to assemble his left handed frammis from an array of valves and pipe pieces. Luis notes that the assembly instructions are nonsense, and Gordon notes that the device itself makes no sense.