William Shakespeare has had a much bigger impact on your life than just your high school English grade. Many of the Bard’s turns of phrase are still in use to this day. Apart from being renowned as the greatest playwright of all time, having your sayings adopted for centuries is a pretty decent accomplishment. Here’s a rundown of secret Shakespearean phrases you didn’t even know were borrowed from the world’s most famous bard.
Who would think such a common piece of advice had origins in Shakespeare’s plays? But as Antonio in Much Ado About Nothing suggests, “If he could right himself with quarreling, some of us would lie low.”
This phrase, referring to jealousy, first popped up in Othello, where envy is the main characters’ undoing. As Iago sagely warns: “Oh, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.”
Before there was Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” there was Henry V, described by Pistol as having, “a heart of gold, a lad of life, an imp of fame, of parents good, of fist most valiant.” That’s high praise!
All’s fair in love and kingdom negotiations, as Miranda in The Tempest notes, “Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle, and I would call it fair play.” Of course today’s application of the term largely refers to playing actual games, or sports.
Ice breakers are part of the social vernacular, but the phrase kicked off in the The Taming of the Shrew with Tranio (as Lucentio) commenting, “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.” In other words, kudos to Petruchio for doing the impossible and breaking the ice to free up Bianca for the other suitors.
Inspired by the erratic flying patterns of geese, a goose chase was a game where horsemen trained their horses to conduct a series of difficult maneuvers, which others had to copy. Sort of like a game of HORSE, but you know, with actual horses. In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio mentions, “Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done.” It only makes sense that this phrase refers to any endeavor involving a fruitless and complex game of pursuit.
Not sure what’s going on? Apparently neither did Casca in Julius Caesar, when he said, “But those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me.”
This uber-romantic phrase is an emphatic declaration of how long Orlando would love Rosalind in As You Like It, although it was originally used in The Taming of the Shrew (published four years earlier) to bid the character of Bianca an exceptionally long farewell.
Not just a Green Day song – the word riddance was used in the 16th century to describe getting rid of something. A good riddance then, as spoken by Portia in Merchant of Venice, refers to happily eliminating something from your life. Or as in the play, someone, like the Prince of Morocco.
Another musical reference; before Selena Gomez trilled about killing 'em with kindness, so too did Petruchio when describing his tactics to win over the prickly Katherine with a dollop of “headstrong humor.”
We’ve since dropped the good, but this famous phrase speaking to a serendipitous event comes from The Merry Wives of Windsor, when Falstaff mentions meeting Mistress Page and gaining some useful information.
Shakespeare popularized this phrase, but Chaucer coined it back in 1405. In The Merchant of Venice, Jessica wistfully explains, “But love is blind, and lovers cannot see the pretty follies that they themselves commit.”
Congrats, Shakespeare! You are the father of the knock-knock joke. While used to cheesy effect today, when applied by the Porter in Macbeth, Shakespeare is actually demonstrating a deft sense of cleverness.
Speaking of famous misattributions – Shakespeare originated Sherlock Holmes’ most famous catchphrase, not Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It pops up in Henry V, spoken by the King himself as part of a motivational battle speech.