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8 Common Phrases We Actually Got From Shakespeare
In this post, we look at sayings invented by Shakespeare.
William Shakespeare was one of the world’s most influential writers.
A master of clever plots, Shakespeare was also great at turns of phrase. Hundreds of words and sayings started with Shakespeare’s inventive work.
He invented many phrases we use, and just as many were insults. Most writers, at some point, type a Shakespearean phrase.
Here are eight common phrases we actually got from Shakespeare.
8 Common Phrases We Actually Got From Shakespeare
1. A Laughing Stock
The Merry Wives Of Windsor
‘Pray you let us not be laughing-stocks to other men’s humours; I desire you in friendship, and I will one way or other make you amends.’
A laughing stock is someone (or something) laughed at by others.
The phrase is used by Evans, who asks for an alliance with Caius. Evans says that he hopes they will not be judged, or be laughing stocks, for their next move.
2. A Sorry Sight
‘This is a sorry sight.’
Macbeth is also called The Scottish Play. It’s the play you can’t name when you’re in it, according to an acting superstition.
Macbeth speaks to Lady Macbeth with this phrase. When he says it, he looks down at his hands, which are covered in blood. Guilt and murder: Macbeth says that the blood is a sorry sight.
A sorry sight is something that is unpleasant or sad to look at.
3. Break The Ice
‘And if you break the ice, and do this feat. Achieve the elder, set the younger free.’
‘Break the ice’ comes from The Taming Of The Shrew, where Tranio says it first.
Breaking the ice is used as a metaphor for first impressions, which can lean on ‘ice cold’ as a description for atmosphere or tone.
When something ‘breaks the ice’, it makes a good first impression (from an awkward situation).
4. What The Dickens
‘I cannot tell what the dickens his name is my husband had him of.’
‘What the dickens?’ comes from The Merry Wives Of Windsor. It’s said by Mistress Page, as a replacement for a common swear word of the time: devil.
‘Devil’ and ‘devilkins’ were inappropriate things to say for a lady. Therefore, Shakespeare replaced the term with dickens.
It’s the same as saying ‘oh, fiddlesticks!’ when you ram a foot into the desk.
It’s not always what you mean to say, but it’s the polite version.
5. Green-Eyed Monster
‘It is the green eyed monster which doth mock.’
Shakespeare uses the phrase twice, in The Merchant Of Venice and Othello.
Iago says it to Othello, to make Othello believe his wife is having an affair. When Othello doesn’t buy it, Iago brings up the familiar ‘green-eyed monster’ we all know.
‘Green’ had associations with envy before this. Shakespeare just made it more popular.
6. In A Pickle
‘How camest thou in this pickle?’
The phrase ‘in a pickle’ means to be in trouble or hot water, though didn’t mean this yet in The Tempest.
‘In a pickle’ is said between King Alonso and Trinculo, his appointed fool. The phrase doesn’t mean trouble, though implies it. ‘Pickle’ was slang for being drunk.
Older use of the phrase implied that the jester was drinking on the job, thus trouble.
7. In Stitches
‘If you desire the spleen, and will laugh yourselves into stitches, follow me.’
The phrase ‘in stitches’ comes from Twelfth Night.
Said by Mary, the phrase implies laughter (and tells us more about surgery in Shakespeare’s time than anyone wants to know).
While the phrase is gross, it is common today.
8. Wear Your Heart On Your Sleeve
The idea to wear your heart on your sleeve comes from Othello, again said by the character, Iago.
It seems almost weird today, but the idiom makes sense for the time in which it was written. It refers to jousting armour, which would show a knight’s loyalty from far away.
If you wear your heart on your sleeve, your feelings are out in the open (or your honesty is obvious).
The Last Word
In this post, we looked at eight phrases that were used by Shakespeare. We hope you enjoyed them.
Source for image: Attributed to John Taylor, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shakespeare.jpg
By Alex J. Coyne. Alex is a writer, proofreader, and regular card player. His features about cards, bridge, and card playing have appeared in Great Bridge Links, Gifts for Card Players, Bridge Canada Magazine, and Caribbean Compass. Get in touch at alexcoyneofficial.com.
If you enjoyed this, read other posts by Alex:
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- Bad Business: 9 Words & Phrases To Avoid
- Dissecting Zombies in Fiction Writing
- Dirty Journalism: How Journalists Can Keep Research Legal
- How Writers Can Research Settings Remotely
- The Use Of Real People As Characters In Fiction
- 8 Proofreading Tricks (That Save Valuable Time)
- 7 Techniques Of The Faustian Story
- Famous Rejection Letters & Their Lessons For Other Writers
- 8 Self-Published Books (That Went Big)
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Posted on: 11th November 2022
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