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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"
Shakespeare introduced or invented countless words in his plays, with estimates of the number in the several thousands. Warren King clarifies by saying that, "In all of his work – the plays, the sonnets and the narrative poems – Shakespeare uses 17,677 words: Of those, 1,700 were first used by Shakespeare."
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.
Tell the truth and shame the Devil (Shakespeare, Henry IV) The age of miracles is past; The apple does not fall/never falls far from the tree; The best condiments are authentic flavors; The best defense is a good offense; The best-laid schemes of mice and men often go awry; The best things in life are free
One of the first-recorded uses of this phrase was by the character Lady Macbeth in Act 3, Scene 2 of the tragedy play Macbeth (early 17th century), by the English playwright William Shakespeare, who said: "Things without all remedy Should be without regard: what's done, is done" [2] and "Give me your hand.
The term was popularized from Shakespeare's Hamlet (1599-1601). [11]The earliest ancestor of "willy-nilly" is the Old English, "sam we willan sam we nyllan" ('whether we wish to or wish not to'), found in King Ælfred's translation of De Consolatione Philosophiæ in 888 AD. [12]
William Shakespeare (c. 23 [a] April 1564 – 23 April 1616) [b] was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. [3] [4] [5] He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard").