the.com/intermission
theater's confession that even the best stories need a bathroom break
means a pause partway through a performance, film, or event, giving the audience a chance to stretch, refresh, or step out before the next part begins
from From Latin intermissio, 'a leaving off, an interval,' built from inter- 'between' and mittere 'to send or let go' — so quite literally a 'sending between,' a gap dropped into the middle of things. The same mittere fuels a whole family of English words, from 'mission' to 'permit,' all sharing that sense of letting something go forth.
- length
- usually 15 to 20 minutes, timed by ice cream sales
- film era
- long epics built pauses into the reel itself
- hidden tactic
- venues profit hugely on intermission drink and snack runs
- entr'acte
- a musical bridge played to fill the empty gap
- origin
- oil lamps once needed trimming mid-performance