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Shakespearean phrases in use today

Posted by Pasky maina on October 18, 2004

I found this site purely by chance and saw that people want to know where certain phrases come from, so I thought I'd post this on the discussion board
as it's nice to see that Shakespeare is "alive and well" and his words are still in everyday use:
So take a look at this its called
"Quoting Shakespeare"
If you cannot understand my argument and declare "it's Greek to me", you are quoting Shakespeare. If you claim to be "more sinned against than sinning", you are quoting Shakespeare. If you act "more in sorrow tha in anger", if you "wish is father to the thought", if your lost property has "vanished into thin air", you are quoting Shakespeare. If you have ever refused "to budge an inch" or suffered from "green-eyed jealousy", if you have "played fast and loose", if you have been "tongue-tied" - "a tower of strength" - "hoodwinked" or "in a pickle", if you have "knitted your brows" - "made virtue of necessity", insisted on "fair play" - "slept not one wink" - "stood on ceremony" - "danced attendance" on "your lord and master" - "laughed yourself into stitches", had "short shrift" - "cold comfort", or "too much of a good thing", if you have "seen better days", or lived "in a fools paradise", why, be that as it may, "the more fool you", for it is a "foregone Conclusion" that you are "as good luck would have it", quoting Shakespeare. If you think "it is high time", and that "that is the long and the sohrt of it", if you believe that "the game is up", and that "truth will out", even if involves your "own flesh and blood", if you"lie low" till "the crack of doom" because you suspect "foul play", if you have "teeth set on edge at one fell swoop" - "without rhyme or reason", then "to give the devil his due" if the "truth were known" for surely you have a "tongue in your head", you are quoting Shakespeare. Even if you bid me "good riddance" and "send me packing", if you wish I was "dead as a doornail", if you think I am an "eyesore" - a "laughing stock" - the "dwvil incarnate" - "a stony-hearted villain" - "bloody-minded", or a "blinking idiot", then "by jove" - "o lord"- "tut, tut!" - "For goodness sake" - "what the dickens!" - "but me no buts" - "it is all one to me", for you are quoting Shakespeare...

By Bernard Levin and reproduced from the Times Newspaper.
No doubt some of you may have this but if not and you would like it follow the links below as you can buy this as a poster from Shakespeares Globe on the Southbank (opposite side of the River Thames to St Pauls Cathederal, for those of you who want to visit the Globe Theatre and don't know where it is, well worth a visit too.)

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