Overacting or performing in an exaggerated theatrical manner, typically as a gerund or present participle.
From ham (theater slang for inferior actor) + -ing (present participle suffix). Became popular in early 20th-century theater slang, where 'hamming it up' meant to exaggerate one's performance.
The phrase 'ham it up' was theater slang before 'hamming' became a standalone verb, and it perfectly captures how language evolves—we drop the 'it' and 'up' and just use 'hamming' to describe the whole exaggerated performance without needing the full phrase.
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