10 everyday phrases coined by Shakespeare

April 23 marks the birthday of one of the most acclaimed writers on this planet, or rather stage, and so, everybody is sort of compelled to do what they can to celebrate it, and here’s our way: A list of words we use everyday that were invented by William Shakespeare :

Arch-villain: This phrase was first spotted in ‘Timon of Athens, Act 5, Scene 1’.  It means an extreme villain or an incredibly powerful villain. “You that way and you this, but two in company; each man apart, all single and alone, yet an arch-villain keeps him company.”

Bedazzled: The first time this word appeared on paper was in ‘The Taming of the shrew, Act 4, Scene 5’. It means to confuse or bewilder. “Pardon, old father, my mistaking eyes, that have been so bedazzled with the sun that everything I look on seemeth green.” I think the word captured all of our unceasingstate beautifully.

Picture Courtesy: Wikimedia commons

Dishearten: The word was noticed in ‘Henry V Act 4, Scene 1’. It means to discourage, demotivate, or disappoint.  “Therefore when he sees reason of fears, as we do, his fears, out of doubt, be of the same relish as ours are: yet, in reason, no man should possess him with any appearance of fear, lest he, by showing it, should dishearten his army.”

Come what can may: This commonly used phrase first made appearance in ‘Macbeth’, 1605. It means ‘Let whatever has to happen, happen’. Although it has now been altered to ‘Come what may’, it is still a phrase used widely and quite informally for a source as archaic as its own.

Macbeth and Banquo encounter the witches for the first time 

Inaudible: Even this word, one that is used to so frequently in our day and age of ‘Skype calls’ and perpetual bad connection was invented by Shakespeare and was first seen in ‘All’s well that ends well, Act 5, Scene 3’.  It is used when something can’t be heard. “Let's take the instant by the forward top; for we are old, and on our quick'st decrees the inaudible and noiseless foot of Time steals ere we can effect them.”

Swagger: while this is a word most of us use every single day, irrespective of whether ironically or genuinely, the literary mastermind when writing ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 3, Scene 1’, created it. It means to strut or walk very confidently with a haughty air. “What hempen home-spuns have we swaggering here, so near the cradle of the fairy queen?”

Scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream depicting Titania and Bottom

A dish fit for the gods: This phrase was first seen in ‘Julius Caesar’ and means that the quality of the food is so good, that it could be offered to gods or someone of incredible authority. “Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully;

Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods...”

A sorry sight: ‘Macbeth’, 1605 was where this phrase was first noticed. The phrase refers to something that was pitiful, or aesthetically unappealing. So, the next time your mother claims that the your room is a sorry sight, you can ask her for the origin in barter for you cleaning your room.

“MACBETH:
 

Hark! Who lies i' the second chamber?
 

LADY MACBETH:
 

Donalbain.
 

 MACBETH:
 

This is a sorry sight.
 

[Looking on his hands].
 

LADY MACBETH:
 

A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight.”

Pictorial depiction of The Tempest

Cold-blooded: While the word was invented before Shakespeare, it was only used in the literal sense when identifying animals, the 17^th Century play, ‘King John, Act 3, Scene 1’ by William is where it was first used metaphorically to portray someone who was barbaric, cruel, or sadistic. “Thou cold-blooded slave, hast thou not spoke like thunder on my side, been sworn my soldier, bidding me depend upon thy stars, thy fortune and thy strength, and dost thou now fall over to my fores?”

Eyeball: If you were under the impression that the word had been christened after a lot of biological and scientific thought, you were dearly mistaken. The word was first created in ‘The Tempest, Act 1, Scene 2’ by the protagonist Prospero who had no history of medical education what so ever! Oops! “Go make thyself like a nymph o' the sea: be subject to no sight but thine and mine, invisible to every eyeball else.”