Hyphenation
vil·lage id·i·otTurkish pronunciation
vîlıc îdiıtPronunciation
/ˈvələʤ ˈədēət/ /ˈvɪləʤ ˈɪdiːət/
Etymology
() The term first appears in the preface to George Bernard Shaw's play Major Barbara, which opened in 1907. Shaw discusses how some people have treated madness or idiocy as a source of humor, remarking that "I myself have had a village idiot exhibited to me as something irresistibly funny."