A person who takes orders and does as told without questioning, often serving as a puppet for someone else's purposes.
The origin is uncertain but may be related to stage performers who played foolish characters in comedies. It entered English in the early 1900s, popularized by comedy acts like the Three Stooges.
The Three Stooges became comedy legends by playing 'stooges'—foolish characters who took slaps and pratfalls—yet their physical comedy influenced filmmaking so much that modern comedies still copy their techniques decades later.
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