by Kevin Burton
Shakespeare’s genius influenced many phrases and idioms we unknowingly use every day. That’s why Dictionary Scoop put together a list of common expressions that were either created or made famous by Shakespeare and his characters.
We listed five of them yesterday on Page 7. Today, five more.
“American literary critic Harold Bloom once said, ‘Shakespeare will not make us better and will not make us worse, but he may allow us to overhear ourselves when we talk to ourselves,’” reads a passage from Dictionary Scoop. “The Bard’s impact on modern literature can’t be denied, but to limit it to the written word would be an extreme disservice to countless other works of art inspired by his works.”
Now, on with the list:
6 Dogs of War
“Cry ‘havoc!” And let slip the dogs of war!” This phrase has been endlessly repeated in several pieces of media, muttered by cold and heartless villains ranging from Star Trek to Superman. It’s almost funny how such a somber, heavy line has evolved up to the point of it becoming a bit of a corny cliche. Shakespeare uses this line in Julius Caesar as a way to convey the horrors and bloodshed of war when Mark Anthony instigates the Roman people to rise against Julius Caesar’s assassins.
7 As dead as a doornail
This one is a little bit baffling. You, like many others, might be wondering what’s the story behind this commonly-used idiom: We all know what it means, but since when is a doornail synonymous with death? Does that mean that the doornail was at one point alive? And, for that matter, why specifically a doornail? Is the way they move through the eternal, unchanging cycle of life and death truly the main difference between common nails and those specifically hammered into a door?
We might have gone a bit off track here. Going back to Shakespeare, the Bard made this expression popular in Henry IV Part 2, when Jack Cade complains about his hunger by saying, “I have eat no meat these five days; yet, come thou and thy five men, and if I do not leave you all as dead as a doornail.”
Some believe the expression comes from how doornails used in Shakespeare’s times could not be retrieved after being hammered. Since those nails were left unusable, they were considered “dead.”
8 In a pickle
Shakespeare’s use of “In a Pickle” in The Tempest is considered the first recorded appearance of this expression. In the play, King Alonso asks his Trinculo, “How camest thou in this pickle?” and the jester, who is both drunk and in trouble, answers “I have been in such a pickle since I saw you last that, I fear me, I will never out of my bones. I shall not fear flyblowing.’
What Trinculo is saying here is that he is so drunk that his body will be well-preserved after his death, the same way brine or vinegar is used to preserve pickled food. While, nowadays, this expression is most commonly used to refer to an unpleasant situation or problem, “pickled” can also be used for someone who is extremely drunk.
9 Love Is Blind
Another phrase incessantly repeated in romantic movies and books, the line “Love is blind” appears in three plays by Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice, Henry V, and The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
In The Merchant of Venice , Jessica meets with her lover Lorenzo while disguised as a boy to trick her father, Shylock. Upon seeing Lorenzo, Jessica feels self-conscious about her appearance, but she later realizes that he won’t mind her clothes since he loves her. Jessica says “I am glad ’tis night, you do not look on me,/ for I am much ashamed of my exchange./ But love is blind, and lovers cannot see/ the pretty follies that themselves commit.”
10 There’s the Rub
It’s funny how one of the least commonly used expressions on this list comes straight from Shakespeare’s most famous speeches: Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” soliloquy. In this monologue, the prince of Denmark grimly ponders on what comes after death, and reflects: “To die, to sleep,/ To sleep, perchance to Dream; aye, there’s the rub,/ for in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,/ when we have shuffled off this mortal coil,/ must give us pause.” Curiously, the expression is believed to originate from grass bowling, one of the favorite hobbies of the Elizabethan era. In this sport, an obstacle on the playing field, like a hill or a mound, would be called “a rub” since the bowl would be slowed down or deflected by rubbing against it. While Shakespeare included this phrase in other plays such as The Tempest and King Lear , Hamlet’s iconic soliloquy is probably responsible for popularizing “That’s the rub” as a way to refer to an unavoidable problem.
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