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This category is for English phrases which were invented by Shakespeare, and older phrases which were notably used in his works. The main article for this category is William Shakespeare . Pages in category "Shakespearean phrases"
William Shakespeare's play Hamlet has contributed many phrases to common English, from the famous "To be, or not to be" to a few less known, but still in everyday English. Some also occur elsewhere (e.g. in the Bible) or are proverbial. All quotations are second quarto except as noted:
Shakespeare added hundreds of new words to the English language, including many commonly used words and colorful expressions that we still use today.
The reference is used to state that the names of things do not affect what they really are. This formulation is, however, a paraphrase of Shakespeare's actual language. Juliet compares Romeo to a rose saying that if he were not a Montague, he would still be just as handsome and be Juliet's love.
In some of Shakespeare's early works, punctuation at the end of the lines strengthens the rhythm. He and other dramatists at the time used this form of blank verse for much of the dialogue between characters to elevate the poetry of drama. [22] To end many scenes in his plays he used a rhyming couplet, thus creating suspense. [23]
Edmund Ironside – Contains numerous words first used by Shakespeare, and, if by him, is perhaps his first play. The London Prodigal and A Yorkshire Tragedy – Both plays were published in quarto as works of Shakespeare, in 1605 and 1608, and were included in the Third Folio. However, stylistic analysis considers these attributions unlikely.
Also apophthegm. A terse, pithy saying, akin to a proverb, maxim, or aphorism. aposiopesis A rhetorical device in which speech is broken off abruptly and the sentence is left unfinished. apostrophe A figure of speech in which a speaker breaks off from addressing the audience (e.g., in a play) and directs speech to a third party such as an opposing litigant or some other individual, sometimes ...
Poetic contractions are contractions of words found in poetry but not commonly used in everyday modern English. Also known as elision or syncope, these contractions are usually used to lower the number of syllables in a particular word in order to adhere to the meter of a composition. [1]