To Get Into the Groove - Theatre Etymology - Part 47

If you get into the groove of something, it means that you become comfortable with doing that thing. Today, it is used in the theatre to mean that a person is getting used to acting or is getting comfortable in the role or position they are in within the theatre. However, even though the term is still used in the theatre, it had a different start within it.

During the 1600s, scenery was changed by having a set of grooves on the stage floor in which flats were inserted. They could be moved for scene changes by using a pole that hooked onto them to move them where they needed to be. Thus, when a flat was in position for the current setting, it was "into the groove." People had to get flats "to get into groove" in order for them to be in the correct places for the show.

The word get comes from the Middle English verb geten which comes from the Old Norse word geta meaning to obtain or beget. It could also be descended from the Old English suffix -gietan (which comes from the Middle English word yeten), the German suffix -gessen as in the German word vergessen meaning to forget. The word groove comes from the Middle English word grofe or groof meaning mining shaft. It may also be descended from the Middle Dutch word groeve, the Dutch word groef, or the German word Grube meaning pit or ditch.

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