27 August 2011

Brush Up Your Shakespeare

"Brush up your Shakespeare. Start quoting him now. Brush up your Shakespeare, and they'll all kowtow!"


Cole Porter was right; we dames love a guy who can quote the best of the Bard. Don't worry if you skimmed through Julius Caesar back in your high school days. You quote Shakespeare every single day without realizing it.


I know, this seems more appropriate for a literary blog. But I love studying the etymology of words and phrases. Some of these you'll recognize as Shakespearean. Others will surprise you.



  • All that glitters is not gold.
  • All's well that ends well.
  • As luck would have it.
  • As merry as the day is long.
  • Bated breath.
  • A charmed life.
  • The be-all end-all.
  • Best foot forward.
  • Neither a borrower nor a lender be.
  • Brave new world.
  • Breathed his last.
  • Break the ice.
  • Refuse to budge an inch.
  • Brevity is the soul of wit.
  • Cold comfort.
  • Come what may.
  • Dead as a doornail.
  • A dish fit for the gods.
  • Every dog will have his day.
  • The devil incarnate.
  • Let slip the dogs of war.
  • Eating me out of house and home.
  • Elbow room.
  • Faint-Hearted.
  • Fancy-Free.
  • Forever and a day.
  • Foregone conclusion.
  • Full circle.
  • The game is afoot. (I thought that came from Sherlock Holmes!)
  • The game is up.
  • Give the devil his due.
  • Good riddance.
  • The Green Eyed Monster.
  • It's all Greek to me.
  • A heart of gold.
  • Her infinite variety.
  • It's high time.
  • Household words.
  • A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!
  • In a pickle.
  • In my heart of hearts.
  • Memory book.
  • In my mind's eye.
  • So-So.
  • Stinks to high heaven.
  • Kill him with kindness.
  • Knit brow.
  • Knock Knock! Who's there?
  • Laughingstock.
  • Lie low.
  • Live long day.
  • Love is blind.
  • Melted into thin air.
  • There's a method to my madness.
  • The makings of.
  • The milk of human kindness.
  • Much ado about nothing.
  • Murder most foul.
  • The naked truth.
  • Neither rhyme nor reason.
  • I've not slept a wink.
  • Plain as the nose on your face.
  • One fell swoop.
  • Out of the jaws of death.
  • Own flesh and blood.
  • Star-crossed lovers.
  • What a piece of work is man.
  • A plague on both your houses.
  • Parting is such sweet sorrow.
  • Fast and loose.
  • Pomp and circumstance.
  • Seen better days.
  • Sent packing.
  • Shall I compare thee to a summer's day.
  • Sick at heart.
  • Snail's pace.
  • Something wicked this way comes.
  • A sorry sight.
  • Sound and fury.
  • Spotless reputation.
  • Stony-hearted.
  • Such stuff as dreams are made on.
  • Still waters run deep.
  • The long and short of it.
  • Shuffle off this mortal coil.
  • Gilding the lily.
  • To thine own self be true.
  • Too much of a good thing.
  • Tower of strength.
  • Wear your heart on your sleeve.
  • What the dickens?!
  • What's done is done.
  • What's in a name?
  • Lord, what fools these mortals be.
  • Wild goose chase.

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