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This section is still under construction. The word lists are slowly being transferred here from Creativity Chaos
BUILD A BETTER VOCABULARY
Words posted by @kairosoflife on Twitter
under the hashtag #beautifulwords
This section is still under construction. The word lists are slowly being transferred here from Creativity Chaos
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LANGUAGE OF SHAKESPEARE
Part 1 Words & Expressions
Part 1 Words & Expressions
EXPRESSIONS BY SHAKESPEARE
A heart of gold
"The king's a bawcock, and a heart of gold, a lad of life, an imp of fame; Of parents good, of fist most valiant."
—Henry V, Act IV, Scene i
All of a sudden
"I pray, sir, tell me, is it possible that love should of a sudden take such hold?"
—The Taming of the Shrew, Act I, Scene i
Break the ice
"If it be so, sir, that you are the man must stead us all and me amongst the rest, and if you break the ice and do this feat, achieve the elder, set the younger free for our access, whose hap shall be to have her will not so graceless be to be ingrate."
—The Taming of the Shrew, Act I, Scene ii
Catch a cold
"Your hand; a covenant: we will have these things set down by lawful counsel, and straight away for Britain, lest the bargain should catch cold and starve."
—Cymbeline, Act I, Scene iv
Cruel to be kind
"I must be cruel, only to be kind: Thus bad begins and worse remains behind."
—Hamlet, Act III, Scene iv
Elbow room
"Ay, marry, now my soul hath elbow-room; It would not out at windows nor at doors."
—King John, Act V, Scene vii
For goodness' sake
"Therefore, for goodness' sake, and as you are known the first and happiest hearers of the town, be sad, as we would make ye."
—King Henry VIII, Prologue
Love is blind
"But love is blind and lovers cannot see the pretty follies that themselves commit; For if they could, Cupid himself would blush to see me thus transformed to a boy."
—The Merchant of Venice, Act II, Scene vi
Neither here nor there
"'Tis neither here nor there."
—Othello, Act IV, Scene iii
Puppy-dog
"Here's a large mouth, indeed, that spits forth death and mountains, rocks and seas, talks as familiarly of roaring lions as maids of thirteen do of puppy-dogs!"
—King John, Act II, Scene i
MORE EXPRESSIONS
WORDS COINED BY SHAKESPEARE
Coining a Word
Shakespeare has influenced the English language and has contributed to the standardization of English language rules and grammar in the 17th and 18th centuries. 1700 words are thought to be Coined by Shakespeare however there is extensive debate about the accuracy of this number.
Shakespeare appears as the first documented user in the Oxford English Dictionary for more words than any other writer. This makes it easy to assume that he was the creator of all of those words.
Many of these words were probably just part of everyday conversation in Elizabethan England. So Shakespeare may not have invented all of these words he is just the first preserved recorder of some of them. Shakespeare may have been just the first person to write down some of these words, he definitely did create many of them himself.
Shakespeare invented words by working with existing words and altering them in new and different ways. For example:
A heart of gold
"The king's a bawcock, and a heart of gold, a lad of life, an imp of fame; Of parents good, of fist most valiant."
—Henry V, Act IV, Scene i
All of a sudden
"I pray, sir, tell me, is it possible that love should of a sudden take such hold?"
—The Taming of the Shrew, Act I, Scene i
Break the ice
"If it be so, sir, that you are the man must stead us all and me amongst the rest, and if you break the ice and do this feat, achieve the elder, set the younger free for our access, whose hap shall be to have her will not so graceless be to be ingrate."
—The Taming of the Shrew, Act I, Scene ii
Catch a cold
"Your hand; a covenant: we will have these things set down by lawful counsel, and straight away for Britain, lest the bargain should catch cold and starve."
—Cymbeline, Act I, Scene iv
Cruel to be kind
"I must be cruel, only to be kind: Thus bad begins and worse remains behind."
—Hamlet, Act III, Scene iv
Elbow room
"Ay, marry, now my soul hath elbow-room; It would not out at windows nor at doors."
—King John, Act V, Scene vii
For goodness' sake
"Therefore, for goodness' sake, and as you are known the first and happiest hearers of the town, be sad, as we would make ye."
—King Henry VIII, Prologue
Love is blind
"But love is blind and lovers cannot see the pretty follies that themselves commit; For if they could, Cupid himself would blush to see me thus transformed to a boy."
—The Merchant of Venice, Act II, Scene vi
Neither here nor there
"'Tis neither here nor there."
—Othello, Act IV, Scene iii
Puppy-dog
"Here's a large mouth, indeed, that spits forth death and mountains, rocks and seas, talks as familiarly of roaring lions as maids of thirteen do of puppy-dogs!"
—King John, Act II, Scene i
MORE EXPRESSIONS
- Brave new world (The Tempest)
- Be-all and the end-all” — (Macbeth)
- Break the ice (The Taming of the Shrew)
- Dead as a doornail (2 Henry VI)
- Eaten me out of house and home (2 Henry IV)
- Elbow room (King John; first attested 1540 according to Merriam-Webster)
- Faint hearted (I Henry VI)
- Fancy free
- Flaming youth (Hamlet)
- Forever and a day” — (As You Like It)
- For goodness' sake (Henry VIII)
- Full circle (King Lear)
- The game is up (Cymbeline)
- Give the devil his due (I Henry IV)
- Good riddance (Troilus and Cressida)
- Heart of gold” — (Henry V)
- “In my mind’s eye” — (Hamlet)
- Jealousy is the green-eyed monster (Othello)
- It was Greek to me (Julius Caesar)
- Heart of gold (Henry V)
- In a pickle (The Tempest)
- In my heart of hearts (Hamlet)
- In my mind's eye (Hamlet)
- Infinite space (Hamlet)
- Kill with kindness (Taming of the Shrew)
- Knock knock! Who's there? (Macbeth)
- Laughing stock (The Merry Wives of Windsor)
- Lie low (Much Ado about Nothing)
- Love is blind (Merchant of Venice)
- Naked truth (Love's Labours Lost)
- Neither rhyme nor reason (As You Like It)
- One fell swoop (Macbeth)
- [What] a piece of work [is man] (Hamlet)
- Pomp and circumstance (Othello)
- Play fast and loose” — (King John)
- Refuse to budge an inch” — (Measure for Measure / The Taming of the Shrew)
- Seen better days (As You Like It? Timon of Athens?)
- Send packing (I Henry IV)
- Snail paced (Troilus and Cressida)
- A sorry sight (Macbeth)
- Sweets to the sweet (Hamlet)
- Too much of a good thing (As You Like It)
- Wear my heart upon my sleeve (Othello)
- What the dickens (The Merry Wives of Windsor)
- What's done is done (Macbeth)
- The world's my oyster (Merry Wives of Windsor)
WORDS COINED BY SHAKESPEARE
Coining a Word
Shakespeare has influenced the English language and has contributed to the standardization of English language rules and grammar in the 17th and 18th centuries. 1700 words are thought to be Coined by Shakespeare however there is extensive debate about the accuracy of this number.
Shakespeare appears as the first documented user in the Oxford English Dictionary for more words than any other writer. This makes it easy to assume that he was the creator of all of those words.
Many of these words were probably just part of everyday conversation in Elizabethan England. So Shakespeare may not have invented all of these words he is just the first preserved recorder of some of them. Shakespeare may have been just the first person to write down some of these words, he definitely did create many of them himself.
Shakespeare invented words by working with existing words and altering them in new and different ways. For example:
- Conjoining two words
- Changing verbs into adjectives
- Changing nouns into verbs
- Adding prefixes to words
- Adding suffixes to words
Many words and expressions Thought to be coined by the bard are still in use today.
BEDAZZLED - The Taming of the Shrew, Act 4, scene v
“Pardon, old father, my mistaking eyes, that have been so bedazzled with the sun that everything I look on seemeth green.”*
BOLD-FACED - I Henry VI, Act 4. Scene VI
“When from the Dauphin's crest thy sword struck fire,
It warm'd thy father's heart with proud desire
Of bold-faced victory. Then leaden age,
Quicken'd with youthful spleen and warlike rage” *
COLD-BLOODED - King John, Act III, Scene I
“Thou cold-blooded slave, hast thou not spoke like thunder on my side, been sworn my soldier, bidding me depend upon thy stars, thy fortune and thy strength”
DISHEARTEN - Henry V, Act IV, Scene I
“Therefore when he sees reason of fears, as we do, his fears, out of doubt, be of the same relish as ours are: yet, in reason, no man should possess him with any appearance of fear, lest he, by showing it, should dishearten his army.”
EVENTFUL - As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII
“Last scene of all, that ends this strange eventful history, is second childishness and mere oblivion, sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”
GLOOMY - King Henry VI, Part I, Act V, Scene iv
"May never glorious sun reflex his beams upon the country where you make abode; But darkness and the gloomy shade of death environ you, till mischief and despair drive you to break your necks or hang yourselves!"
FASHIONABLE - Troilus and Cressida, Act III, Scene iii
"For time is like a fashionable host that slightly shakes his parting guest by the hand, and with his arms outstretch'd, as he would fly, Grasps in the comer: welcome ever smiles, and farewell goes out sighing.”
LONELY- Coriolanus, Act IV, Scene i
“My hazards still have been your solace: and believe't not lightly — though I go alone, like to a lonely dragon, that his fen makes fear'd and talk'd of more than seen — your son will or exceed the common or be caught with cautelous baits and practise."
MAJESTIC - Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene ii
“Ye gods! It doth amaze me a man of such a feeble temper should so get the start of the majestic world and bear the palm alone."
MOONBEAM - Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 3, Scene i “I have my love to bed and to arise;
And pluck the wings from Painted butterflies
To fan the moonbeams from his sleeping eyes:
Nod to him, elves, and do him courtesies.”
NEW-FANGLED - Love’s Labour’s Lost, Act I, Scene IAt “Christmas I no more desire a rose than wish a snow in May's new-fangled mirth”
RANT - Hamlet, Act V, Scene i
“Nay, an thou'lt mouth, I'll rant as well as thou."
SANCTIMONIOUS - Measure for Measure, Act 2, Scene I
“Thou concludest like the sanctimonious pirate, that went to sea with the Ten Commandments, but scraped one out of the table”
SCUFFLE - Antony and Cleopatra, Act I, Scene I
“His captain's heart, which in the scuffles of great fights hath burst the buckles on his breast, reneges all temper, and is become the bellows and the fan to cool a gipsy's lust”
SHOOTING STAR - Richard II, Act II, Scene iv
”Ah Richard, with the eyes of heavy mind
I see thy glory like a shooting star
Fall to the base earth from the firmament.
Thy sun sets weeping in the lowly west,
Witnessing storms to come, woe and unrest:
Thy friends are fled to wait upon thy foes,
And crossly to thy good all fortune goes.”
SWAGGER - A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act III, Scene 1 “Why hempen home-spuns have we swaggering here, so near the cradle of the fairy queen?"
TONGUE-TIED - III Henry VI, Act 3, scene iii
“Those gracious words revive my drooping thoughts
And give my tongue-tied sorrows leave to speak.
Now, therefore, be it known to noble Lewis,
That Henry, sole possessor of my love,
Is of a king become a banish'd man”
TRANSCENDENCE - All's Well that Ends Well, Act 2, scene iiI
“And debile minister, great power, great transcendence: which should, indeed, give us a further use to be made than alone the recovery of the king, as to be”
WILD GOOSE CHASE - Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, scene
“Our wits the wild-goose chase, I am done, for thou hast more of the wild-goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I have in my whole five. Was I with you there for the goose?”
ZANY - Love's Labour's Lost, Act V, Scene ii
"Some carry-tale, some please-man, some slight zany, some mumble-news, some trencher-knight, some Dick, that smiles his cheek in years and knows the trick to make my lady laugh when she's disposed, told our intents before."
BEDAZZLED - The Taming of the Shrew, Act 4, scene v
“Pardon, old father, my mistaking eyes, that have been so bedazzled with the sun that everything I look on seemeth green.”*
- DEFINITION: to confuse by a strong light
BOLD-FACED - I Henry VI, Act 4. Scene VI
“When from the Dauphin's crest thy sword struck fire,
It warm'd thy father's heart with proud desire
Of bold-faced victory. Then leaden age,
Quicken'd with youthful spleen and warlike rage” *
- DEFINITION: bold in manner or conduct
COLD-BLOODED - King John, Act III, Scene I
“Thou cold-blooded slave, hast thou not spoke like thunder on my side, been sworn my soldier, bidding me depend upon thy stars, thy fortune and thy strength”
- DEFINITION: done or acting without consideration, compunction, or clemency
DISHEARTEN - Henry V, Act IV, Scene I
“Therefore when he sees reason of fears, as we do, his fears, out of doubt, be of the same relish as ours are: yet, in reason, no man should possess him with any appearance of fear, lest he, by showing it, should dishearten his army.”
- DEFINITION: to cause to lose hope, enthusiasm, or courage :to cause to lose spirit
EVENTFUL - As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII
“Last scene of all, that ends this strange eventful history, is second childishness and mere oblivion, sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”
- DEFINITION: full of or rich in events
GLOOMY - King Henry VI, Part I, Act V, Scene iv
"May never glorious sun reflex his beams upon the country where you make abode; But darkness and the gloomy shade of death environ you, till mischief and despair drive you to break your necks or hang yourselves!"
- DEFINITION: partially or totally dark; especially:dismally and depressingly dark
FASHIONABLE - Troilus and Cressida, Act III, Scene iii
"For time is like a fashionable host that slightly shakes his parting guest by the hand, and with his arms outstretch'd, as he would fly, Grasps in the comer: welcome ever smiles, and farewell goes out sighing.”
- DEFINITION: conforming to the custom, fashion, or established mode
LONELY- Coriolanus, Act IV, Scene i
“My hazards still have been your solace: and believe't not lightly — though I go alone, like to a lonely dragon, that his fen makes fear'd and talk'd of more than seen — your son will or exceed the common or be caught with cautelous baits and practise."
- DEFINITION: sad from being alone :lonesomeHe was feeling lonelywithout his wife and children. producing a feeling of bleakness or desolation
MAJESTIC - Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene ii
“Ye gods! It doth amaze me a man of such a feeble temper should so get the start of the majestic world and bear the palm alone."
- DEFINITION: having or exhibiting majesty(greatness or splendor of quality or character)
MOONBEAM - Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 3, Scene i “I have my love to bed and to arise;
And pluck the wings from Painted butterflies
To fan the moonbeams from his sleeping eyes:
Nod to him, elves, and do him courtesies.”
- DEFINITION: a ray of light from the moon
NEW-FANGLED - Love’s Labour’s Lost, Act I, Scene IAt “Christmas I no more desire a rose than wish a snow in May's new-fangled mirth”
- DEFINITION: attracted to novelty; of the newest style or kind
RANT - Hamlet, Act V, Scene i
“Nay, an thou'lt mouth, I'll rant as well as thou."
- DEFINITION: To talk in a noisy, excited, or declamatory manner
SANCTIMONIOUS - Measure for Measure, Act 2, Scene I
“Thou concludest like the sanctimonious pirate, that went to sea with the Ten Commandments, but scraped one out of the table”
- DEFINITION: hypocritically pious or devout
SCUFFLE - Antony and Cleopatra, Act I, Scene I
“His captain's heart, which in the scuffles of great fights hath burst the buckles on his breast, reneges all temper, and is become the bellows and the fan to cool a gipsy's lust”
- DEFINITION: to struggle at close quarters with disorder and confusion
SHOOTING STAR - Richard II, Act II, Scene iv
”Ah Richard, with the eyes of heavy mind
I see thy glory like a shooting star
Fall to the base earth from the firmament.
Thy sun sets weeping in the lowly west,
Witnessing storms to come, woe and unrest:
Thy friends are fled to wait upon thy foes,
And crossly to thy good all fortune goes.”
- DEFINITION: a visual meteor appearing as a temporary streak of light in the night sky
SWAGGER - A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act III, Scene 1 “Why hempen home-spuns have we swaggering here, so near the cradle of the fairy queen?"
- DEFINITION: to conduct oneself in an arrogant or superciliously pompous manner; especially:to walk with an air of overbearing self-confidence
TONGUE-TIED - III Henry VI, Act 3, scene iii
“Those gracious words revive my drooping thoughts
And give my tongue-tied sorrows leave to speak.
Now, therefore, be it known to noble Lewis,
That Henry, sole possessor of my love,
Is of a king become a banish'd man”
- DEFINITION: unable or disinclined to speak freely (as from shyness)
TRANSCENDENCE - All's Well that Ends Well, Act 2, scene iiI
“And debile minister, great power, great transcendence: which should, indeed, give us a further use to be made than alone the recovery of the king, as to be”
- DEFINITION: extending or lying beyond the limits of ordinary experience
WILD GOOSE CHASE - Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, scene
“Our wits the wild-goose chase, I am done, for thou hast more of the wild-goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I have in my whole five. Was I with you there for the goose?”
- DEFINITION: a complicated or lengthy and usually fruitless pursuit or search
ZANY - Love's Labour's Lost, Act V, Scene ii
"Some carry-tale, some please-man, some slight zany, some mumble-news, some trencher-knight, some Dick, that smiles his cheek in years and knows the trick to make my lady laugh when she's disposed, told our intents before."
- DEFINITION: one who acts the buffoon to amuse others
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View Me on Twitter @kairosoflife
See Creativity Chaos - a Creativity Blog by Kai About | Reprints & Copyrights
© 2019-2020 Copyright Starlight Poetry
View Me on Twitter @kairosoflife
See Creativity Chaos - a Creativity Blog by Kai About | Reprints & Copyrights
© 2019-2020 Copyright Starlight Poetry