Be amazed at how much of our everyday language comes from the original words of William Shakespeare! The following phrases or expressions were first uttered by characters in one of Shakespeare's many plays. How many have you used? Hamlet Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him -- Ay, there's the rub Brevity is the soul of wit Conscience does make cowards of us all Good night, ladies Dog will have its day Frailty, thy name is woman Get thee to a nunnery Hoist with his own petard In my heart of hearts It smells to heaven More in sorrow than in anger In my mind's eye Murder most foul The lady doth protest too much, methinks Though this be madness, yet there is method in't Sweets to the sweet To be, or not to be: that is the question To thine own self be true The play's the thing Neither a borrower nor a lender be Not a mouse stirring Something is rotten in the state of Denmark What a piece of work is a man Romeo and Juliet A fool's paradise Parting is such sweet sorrow Star-crossed lovers What's in a name? Macbeth Come what may Crack of doom Double, double, toil and trouble; fire burn, and cauldron bubble Fatal vision Full of sound and fury Knock, knock! Who's there? Milk of human kindness One fell swoop Out, damned spot! Sorry sight The be-all and the end-all What's done is done Richard III A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse! A tower of strength Now is the winter of our discontent Short shrift Spotless reputation The Taming of the Shrew An eye-sore Budge an inch Kill ... with kindness More fool you Julius Caesar Beware the Ides of March Cowards die many times before their deaths Dish fit for the gods Et tu, Brute! Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears It was Greek to me Lean and hungry look Let slip the dogs of war Stood on ceremonies There is a tide in the affairs of men This was the noblest Roman of them all Unkindest cut of all Henry IV Give the devil his due The better part of valour is discretion The game is afoot Henry IV, part 2 Eaten me out of house and home Stony-hearted villains Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown Henry VI, part 2 Breathe one's last Dead as a doornail Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers King Lear Come full circle Every inch a king More sinned against than sinning Sharper than a serpent's tooth As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods The Tempest Into thin air O, Brave new world Strange bedfellows We are such stuff as dreams are made on Othello A foregone conclusion Green-eyed monster One that loved not wisely, but too well Pomp and Circumstance 'Tis neither here nor there Wear my heart on my sleeve As You Like It All the world's a stage Bag and baggage Blow, blow, thou winter wind The working day world We have seen better days Too much of a good thing The Merry Wives of Windsor Short and the long of It What the dickens Throw cold water on it The world's mine oyster The Merchant of Venice Bated breath Hold a candle to It's a wise father that knows his own child Love is blind My own flesh and blood The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose The quality of mercy is not strained The Winter's Tale As white as driven snow King John Cold comfort Elbow room Troilus and Cressida Good riddance A Midsummer Night's Dream Lord, what fools these mortals be! The course of true love never did run smooth Coriolanus Death by inches The Merry Wives of Windsor Laughing-stock Love's Labour's Lost Play fast and loose The naked truth The Comedy of Errors Something in the wind The Two Gentlemen of Verona To make a virtue of necessity Language Arts | Worsley School Graphics & design by © 1996 - Wunderland Website Design