Tuesday, July 5, 2011

You’re Quoting Shakespeare, and You Probably Don’t Even Know It

 
 
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 recall your salad days, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you act more in sorrow than in anger; if your wish is farther 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 a 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 fool’s 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 early days and clear out bag and baggage, if you think it is high time and that that is the long and short of it, if you believe that the game is up and that truth will out even if it involves your own flesh and blood, if you lie low till the crack of doom because you suspect foul play, if you have your teeth set on edge (at one fell swoop) without rhyme or reason, then—to give the devil his dueif 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 door-nail, if you think I am an eyesore, a laughing stock, the devil 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. 


—Bernard Levin, from The Story of English



5 comments:

  1. Wait your quoting a guy that is quoting a guy? Is that hear say?

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  2. It is true, this post would not be admissible in a court of law. But, then, Shakespeare wouldn't be a very reliable witness anyway, what with him being dead and all.

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  3. "Brevity is the soul of wit" Some guy, and you have that in spades

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  4. Another little known Shakespeare fact: The Italian city of Venice did not exist until after it was mentioned in "The Merchant of Venice."

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  5. Very true! And this fact, of course, gets straight to the long-unanswered question about Shakespeare's identity: did he actually create Venice with the powers of his mind, or was he merely a psychic who predicted its eventual existence? Or, perhaps most likely, was he a robot sent from the future to write beautiful couplets and kill Edward Furlong? The literary world has been abuzz with this question for almost four centuries now.

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