whoops, there go my trousers

A reference to a gag in slapstick comedy theatre plays where a character’s trousers fall to the ground, exposing his underwear, to elicit laughs from the audience.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈʍʊps ðɛː ˈɡəʊ maɪ ˈtɹaʊzəz/, /ˈʍuːps-/, /ˈwʊps-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwʊps ðɛɚ ˈɡoʊ maɪ ˈtɹaʊzɚz/, /ˈʍʊps-/
• Hyphenation: whoops, there go my trou‧sers

• Audio (US):

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whoops, there go my trousers

1. (comedy, theater) Used to describe a genre of farcical theatre plays.
   • 1995 December 29, Chris Wright, “Four Rooms ”, in The Boston Phoenix, Boston, Mass.: Boston Phoenix, →OCLC, section 3, page 19:

     Four Rooms is the latest attempt to combine multiple directors' skits into one film. It is also an attempt to mix "whoops!-there-go-my-trousers" farce with the slick kitsch pop-art comedy.

   • 1998 June 13, “Carry on up the National”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, weekend edition, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 10, column 1:

     But what's this? A play about a Carry On film by Terry "Whoops, There Go My Trousers" Johnson, the man responsible for the National's revival of The London Cuckolds, an 18th-century version of Run For Your Wife?

   • 2002, Simon Calder, No Frills: The Truth Behind the Low-cost Revolution in the Skies, London: Virgin Books, →ISBN, page 45:

     The bolts have to be opened and closed in the right combination to avoid scenes worthy of a French farce. But I feel less a character in ‘Whoops! There go my trousers’, and more like something miserable by [Samuel] Beckett or [Franz] Kafka about the meaningless of life, and the fatuity of communication.

   • 2009 January 9, Andrea Mullaney, “TV Review: The Life of Riley, The Green Green Grass, Dexter”, in The Scotsman‎, Edinburgh: Scotsman Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 February 2009:

     Instead this relies on the supposedly comical misunderstandings that have been a feature of sitcoms since the 1950s. [...] The children are smart arses, the laughter is canned, the parents befuddled and every line delivered as if they're on stage starring in "Whoops, There Go My Trousers".