Shakespearean Sources

Throughout the ages, our vernacular has been influenced by events, cataclysmic and otherwise, as well as people. One who has greatly influenced the English language is the man known as The Bard – William Shakespeare. Born in 1564 and leaving us in 1616, he has been gone for over four hundred years, but his famous way of turning a phrase is still with us. Here are just some of William Shakespeare’s famous quips that we still use today.

We have seen better days. Hopefully, we will continue to see more of those elusive good days, but this phrase is from Shakespeare’s As You Like It. It makes one wonder how awful the times must have been in Elizabethan England.

Wild goose chase. We still use this phrase to describe a total waste of pursuit and time. It comes from Romeo & Juliet, of all places.

What’s done is done. A common way to let the past go – actually a good way to think of the proverbial spilled milk. It comes from one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces – and a favorite of Abraham Lincoln – the dark Macbeth. In fact, it is the evil Lady Macbeth who says it.

Eaten me out of house and home. This still appreciated maxim may be an exaggeration, but it is still popular. An unhappy woman, Mistress Quickly, from Henry IV went on to say, “He hath put all my substance into that fat belly of his.” Not a very good hostess, is she?  

With bated breath. A meaning that implies anxiously waiting is from The Merchant of Venice, one of Shakespeare’s greatest – the same play that offers “The quality of mercy is not strained.” Portia, who utters the latter, is a favorite, but it is the not-so-beloved Shylock who says the “bated breath” phrase. “Bated” is a shortened form of “abated”, which means he was holding his breath for the outcome.

The be all and end all. The phrase implies someone or something that is so wonderful it passes all expectations, or so critical that it will make irreparable consequences. It comes from Macbeth, and is uttered by the title character as he contemplates killing King Duncan and the probably critical outcome of his soon-to-be accomplished deed.

Sterner stuff. The phrase means what it did nearly a half-millennium ago, when Marc Antony uttered it, in his famous “Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears” speech in Julius Caesar. In the speech, he quotes the assassinated Caesar as crying that “Ambition should be made of sterner stuff” – or, it should be more disciplined, with a higher purpose. Apparently, the senators did not listen to him.

 

Knock, knock, who’s there? It’s hard to believe, but the beginning of all our annoying “knock knock” jokes originated with the Bard. It, too, comes from Macbeth. Macduff is summoning the king, who has just been murdered by Macbeth and his wife, and he does not answer. The knocking persists, the porter is awakened, and he utters this now famous – and annoying – phrase.

The stuff that dreams are made (of). Shakespeare employed it only slightly differently as “the stuff that dreams are made on”. It comes from The Tempest. It was made famous again by being the final line in The Maltese Falcon – uttered by Humphrey Bogart.

The world’s your oyster. This phrase is one that inspires us to pursue our dreams. Oysters have long been a coveted edible of the rich in days of yore. The phrase originates from The Merry Wives of Windsor, one of Shakespeare’s famous comedies.

Not budge an inch. We still use this phrase to describe a stubborn person or a determined one who will not give into any argument or change of plan. It comes from a play all about stubborn people: The Taming of the Shrew.

The green-eyed monster. The description, still in use in our day, is a personification of envy. It comes from Othello, a story all about that vice and its sad consequences.

Too much of a good thing. A common phrase that describes just that – too much fun or success to excess. It comes from Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Rosalind, who escapes her father, and dresses up like a young man, asks, “Can one desire too much of a good thing?” Apparently, she didn’t think so, and it ended well for her.  

Neither rhyme nor reason. This phrase is becoming slightly outdated, but has been used continually for many years, meaning that some things are inexplicable. It originated in Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors.

Method in the madness. The phrase explains that even when someone appears crazed for an inexplicable act, there is always a reason for it. Hamlet seemed to think so, anyway, as the young prince who feigned madness to get his revenge on those who killed his father. He succeeded, but it didn’t end well.

Out of Joint. A phrase that describes something not in its proper place, emotionally, mentally, or physically. It too comes from Hamlet.

One Fell Swoop. A common phrase that means “all at once”, usually implying that quite a bit was done at once, comes from Macbeth. Shakespeare utilizes Macduff to say the phrase, who laments the death of his family, comparing them to victims like those from a hawk that swoops down on its unlucky prey.

 

Pomp and circumstance. The phrase that is so well used to describe a formal, impressive event – there is even a graduation song of the same name to go with it – comes from Othello. The title character employs it, saying “Pride, pomp and circumstance of glorious war.” Most of us will agree that war is not too glorious, but Othello is a tragic character, so we will not mince words.

What a piece of work is man. The phrase that inspired the title The Killer Angels, the Pulitzer Prize winning novel about the Battle of Gettysburg, comes from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Hamlet, who is contemplating his revenge on his uncle for killing his father, laments to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: 

“What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculties! In form and moving, how express and admirable! In action, how like an angel…” Hamlet continues, sorrowing that all men end up as dust. In the book, The Killer Angels, Colonel Joshua Chamberlain (fictitiously) quotes Hamlet, and is interrupted by his (fictitious) sergeant, Buster Kilrain, who says, “He damn well better be a killer angel.”   

Household words. The phrase describes words – or people, or events – that have become so widely known that they are in every house, and spoken among every person. It comes from Henry V – another of Shakespeare’s great plays.

Shakespeare’s long ago written and enacted words are still with us, and many of his quotes are still household words. Who would have thought so many common phrases had Shakespearean sources?

 

Pass them along!