In Other Words
If you have ever been in a pickle, tonguetied, had too much of a good thing, refused to budge an inch, or heard your folks say, “You’ve eaten me out of house and home,” then you’ve been living with the words of William Shakespeare.
He was able to put words together so beautifully that today, almost 460 years after his birth, we are still quoting Shakespeare.
‘All the world’s a stage’
Shakespeare invented hundreds of words, used them in brand-new ways and wrote lines that opened up new ways of seeing. Words from his plays and poems still ring true today.
His plays include “Romeo and Juliet,” “Hamlet” and “Julius Caesar.” He is also famous for a special kind of poetry called a sonnet (SAHN-ut).
‘The play’s the thing’
People in Shakespeare’s time loved to play with words. They also loved proverbs, or sayings. Shakespeare shared these loves. He invented hundreds of sayings.
Some of the language may have already been in use at the time, but his works are the only record we have of it.
Let’s explore some of Shakespeare’s words that we still use today.
• If you’ve ever been to a high school or college graduation ceremony, you probably heard a song called “Pomp and Circumstance.” This phrase comes from Act 3 of Shakespeare’s play “Othello,” but the characters aren’t talking about high school. “Pomp and circumstance” in this case refers to the ceremony and excitement of warfare.
• Family members will sometimes call each other their “own flesh and blood.”
Shakespeare used this phrase in several of his plays, including “Hamlet” and “Merchant of Venice.”
• This funny saying is from the play “Henry the Fourth.” A woman who takes in boarders, or people who rent a room, is talking about Sir John Falstaff, who “hath put all my substance into that fat belly of his.”
• You might say
“For goodness’ sake!” when you drop a ball or trip on a branch. But Shakespeare meant it differently. In “Henry the Eighth,” it means “for the sake of goodness and decency.”