Shakespeare? When am I ever gonna use that?

There’s not a high school English teacher or college literature professor who probably hasn’t fielded that question at least once in their careers. Or, once a semester, more likely.

Now, I must admit, even as someone who appreciates words, I’ve never been a huge fan of all that “what light through yonder window break” business myself. 

Yet, there’s little doubt that William Shakespeare made a much bigger impact on our lives than just some long ago English class.

I’ve easily written millions of words now—the first 5 million of so along the lines of “I will not tell fart jokes in class,” or “I will not make fart noises over the intercom after getting sent to the office for telling fart jokes in class.” Over and over in mind-numbing repetition.

Still, I’m almost certain no one will remember a single word I wrote, 400 years hence, least of all those “fart jokes” I had to write, repeating in the same place each sentence, all in detention. Even if I got lucky somehow, nobody would know the words were mine, I’m certain.

By contrast, not only is Shakespeare admired still today—he’s another fart jokes writer, by the way; they show up in roughly a half dozen plays—he’s also credited with coining phrases that still linger in our speech today, a full four centuries later.

I recently ran across a list of such phrases on one of my favorite word geek websites, www.wordgenius.com. 

The following is a sampling of that list. All are common phrases still, shown here with their actual root text in Shakespeare’s writings:

Lie Low

You may think you're playing it cool, but this common piece of advice comes from the Bard himself. As Antonio in Much Ado About Nothing suggests, “If he could right himself with quarreling, some of us would lie low” (Act 5, Scene 1, 51).

Green-Eyed Monster

This phrase, referring to jealousy, first popped up in Othello, where envy is the main characters’ undoing. As Othello's frenemy Iago sagely warns: “Oh, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on” (Act 3 Scene 3, 170-172).

Heart of Gold

From Henry V, in describing supporting character Pistol as having “a heart of gold, a lad of life, an imp of fame, of parents good, of fist most valiant” (Act 4, Scene 1, 44). High praise, indeed.

Break the Ice

In The Taming of the Shrew, Tranio (disguised as Lucentio) comments, “If it be so, sir, that you are the man must stead us all, and me amongst the rest, and if you break the ice and do this feat, achieve the elder, set the younger free for our access” (Act, Scene 2, 274-275). In other words, kudos to Petruchio for breaking the ice to free up the maiden Bianca for the other suitors.

Wild Goose Chase

Inspired by the erratic flying patterns of the bird, a goose chase was a game where riders trained their horses to conduct a series of difficult maneuvers, which others had to copy. Sort of like a game of HORSE, but with actual horses. In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio mentions, “Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done” (Act 2, Scene 4, 70–72). 

It’s All Greek to Me

Not sure what’s going on? Apparently neither did Roman Casca in Julius Caesar, when he said, “But those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me” (Act 1, Scene 2, 291-294).

Knock, Knock! Who’s There?

Congrats, Shakespeare! You are the father of the knock-knock joke. While used to cheesy effect today, when uttered by the Porter in Macbeth (Act 2, Scene 3, 1–8), Shakespeare is demonstrating a deft sense of cleverness.

For wordgenius.com’s full list of Shakespearean influences, please click here. And for those wondering, yes, I really did write those lines – both sets – circa about 1983 in Garwood.