The Origin of Everyday Expressions
Famous Quotes by Shakespeare
Aug 26, 2009 Carol Rzadkiewicz
He needs some “elbow room.” Events have come “full circle.” There was a “killing frost.” People use these terms all the time. They also use phrases like, “Every dog will have his day;” that’s “the long and the short of it;” and jealousy is “a green-eyed monster.” They say someone is “on a wild goose chase.” They tell jokes beginning with “Knock, Knock! Who’s there?”
Yes, people use such terms and phrases all the time; very few people, however, know where, when, or with whom these common expressions originated. They originated in England, from 1592 to 1616, with William Shakespeare.
A Brief Bio of the Bard
Born in April 1564 at Stratford-on-Avon, to an influential and well-to-do family, Shakespeare penned his first play, I Henry VI, in 1592 at the ripe old age of 28; and before his death in 1616, he had written an estimated 36 plays and 154 sonnets, as well as four longer poems (Harrison, n.d., page 4). Long heralded as one of the most extraordinary talents in literary history, Shakespeare left a legacy of works that endured and will continue to endure; however, the Bard also coined many of the everyday expressions that have become staples in the English lexicon.
Everyday Terms Attributable to Shakespeare
Although it’s impossible to list all the everyday terms that originated with Shakespeare, a few include the following:
- For goodness sake: Henry the Eighth, Act 3, scene 1; “Wolsey: For goodness sake, consider what you do, how you may hurt yourself—ay, utterly grow from the King’s acquaintance, by this carriage.”
- A lean and hungry look: Julius Caesar, Act 1, scene 2: “Caesar: “Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look, he thinks too much; such men are dangerous.”
- In my mind’s eye: Hamlet, Act 1, scene 2: “Horatio: Where my lord? Hamlet: In my mind’s eye, Horatio.”
- The milk of human kindness: Macbeth, Act 1, scene 5: “Lady Macbeth: It is too full of the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way.”
- A sorry sight: Macbeth, Act 2, scene 2: Macbeth [Looking at his hands]“This is a sorry sight.”
- Heart on my sleeve: Othello, Act 1, scene 1: “Iago: For when my outward action doth demonstrate the native act and figure of my heart in complement extern, ‘tis not long after but I will wear my heart upon my sleeve for jackdaws to peck at.”
- Budge an inch: The Taming of the Shrew, Introduction, scene 1: “Sly: Third, or fourth, of fifth borough, I’ll answer him by law. I’ll not budge an inch, boy; let him come and kindly.”
- A tower of strength: Richard the Third, Act 5, scene 3: “King Richard: Why, our battalia trebles that account! Besides, the King’s name is a tower of strength.”
- Sweets to the sweet: Hamlet, Act 5, scene 1: “Queen: [scattering flowers] Sweets to the sweet, farewell!”
Everyday Phrases Attributable to Shakespeare
As is the case with everyday terms, many common phrases can also be attributed to Shakespeare, for example:
- What’s done is done: Macbeth, Act 3, scene 2: “Lady Macbeth: With them they think on! Things without all remedy should be without regard: what’s done, is done.”
- Neither a borrower nor a lender be: Hamlet, Act 1, scene 3: “Polonius: Neither a borrow nor a lender be, for loan oft loses both itself and friend, and borrowing dulls the edges of husbandry.”
- Knock, knock! Who’s there?: Macbeth, Act 2, scene 3: “Porter: Knock, knock, knock! Who’s there? Who’s there, in the name of Beelzebub? Knock, knock! Who’s there, in the other devil’s name?”
- He has eaten me out of house and home: Henry the Fourth, Act 1, scene 1: “Hostess Quickly: He hath eaten me out of house and home, he hath put all my substance into that fat belly of his.”
- The course of true love never did run smooth: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 1, scene 1: “Lysander: Ay me! For aught that I could ever read, could ever hear by tale or history, the course of true love never did run smooth; but either it was different in blood.”
- All the world’s a stage: As You Like It, Act 2, scene 7: “Jaques: All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”
- Something is rotten in the state of Denmark: Hamlet, Act 1, scene 4: “Marcellus: Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”
Of course, these are but merely a sampling of the many everyday expressions that can be attributed to the pen of William Shakespeare, for there are many, many more; and given the sheer number, one has to wonder what the English language would be like today had it not been so heavily influenced by the Bard.
Source:
Harrison, G.B., ed. (n.d) Shakespeare: The Complete Works. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers.
Famous Quotes by Shakespeare
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