Seven Everyday Phrases Attributed to Shakespeare...
Everyday Phrases have various etymologies & I find them
absolutely fascinating. So many of them come from the military & navy such
as three sheets to the wind, going off at half cock, others have a basis in
religion whilst others come from Latin. However, a great many of our everyday
phrases were first penned by William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare
(1564-1616) was a prolific writer & most of us are familiar with many
quotes from his plays. I bet most people are actually surprised by how many
they do know but I wonder how many of you realize just how many words &
common expressions are from his pen. Here are Seven Everyday Phrases Attributed
to Shakespeare.
1st: GREEN-EYED MONSTER
Meaning: Envy/jealousy.
Green was associated with sickness due to the pallor of skin
when people are ill & is also the color of unripe foods that cause stomach
pains. Shakespeare used the phrase first in a speech by Portia in the Merchant
of Venice & then includes it to a line spoken by Lago in Othello.
2nd: ALL THAT GLISTERS IS
NOT GOLD
Meaning: Outward
ostentation does not mean something is valuable.
This is the most commonly miss-stated of all Shakespeare’s
quotes. Most people say all that glitters is not gold. The word in the original
text is glisters. Although this is one of the everyday phrases attributed to
Shakespeare, used by him in The Merchant of Venice in 1596 – scholars argue
that the idea has earlier examples such as the line, all is not gold that glister,
penned by Thomas Becon in 1553 in The Relikes of Rome.
3rd: LOVE IS BLIND
Meaning: If you love
someone, it doesn’t matter what they look like. Faults are overlooked.
Love is blind is one of Shakespeare’s own favorite sayings
that has become one of our everyday phrases. He uses it in Two Gentlemen of
Verona, Henry V & as here in The Merchant of Venice: … But love is blind &
lovers cannot see the pretty follies that they commit …
4th: WILD GOOSE CHASE
Meaning: A hopeless
quest.
We might assume that this phrase refers to the fruitlessness
of trying to catch a wild goose but in fact this is believed to be reference to
an old sport of horse racing when horses followed a lead horse at a set
distance in the same V formation as flying geese. The first recorded citation
of wild goose chase is in Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, penned in 1592.
5th: BREVITY IS THE
SOUL OF WIT
Meaning: articulate &
intelligent wit is achieved with a few well chosen words.
Of all the everyday phrases attributed to Shakespeare few are
as succinct & unambiguous as this one. It is a line in a speech by Lord
Polonius in Hamlet, written in 1602.
6th: LAY IT ON WITH A
TROWEL
Meaning: Be over
generous with flattery, crudely labor a point.
First coined in As You Like It, written in 1600. Best
demonstrated by its actual usage:
LE BEAU: Fair princess, you have lost much good sport.
CELIA: Sport! of what color?
LE BEAU: What color, madam! How shall I answer you?
ROSALIND: As wit & fortune will.
TOUCHSTONE: Or as the Destinies decree.
CELIA: Well said: that was laid on with a trowel.
7th: MAKE YOUR HAIR
STAND ON END
Meaning: Reaction to
something frightening.
This is one of Shakespeare’s wonderfully evocative everyday
phrases & you instantly know exactly what anyone means when they say it.
The Bard used it so marvelously in Hamlet: “I could a tale unfold, whose
lightest word would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, make thy two
eyes, like stars, start from their spheres, thy knotted & combined locks to
part & each particular hair to stand an end, like quills upon the fretful
porpentine…”
I could go on forever. We have William Shakespeare to thank
for so many other everyday phrases including “break the ice,” “wear your heart
on your sleeve,” “clothes market the man,” “pound of flesh,” “in a pickle,”
“fair play & foul play,” “heart of gold,” “too much of a good thing,”
“tower of strength,” & laughing stock. As well as an everyday phrase,
Shakespeare is also credited with introducing/inventing new words including:
castigate, dwindle, barefaced, multitudinous, clangor, watchdog, dexterously,
baseless & sanctimonious.
