Welcome to Amazing Words Wednesday, the day we enter the labyrinth of language and see what we can find.
Let’s talk about “The Bard”–that is, William Shakespeare.
How many people can say that they coined phrases that will still be in use over 400 years after they introduced them? Only a handful, I would think. But William Shakespeare is to credit, or blame, for numerous phrases and proverbs in our English language. Here are just a few:
Good Ol’ Bill popularized some other sayings that weren’t his own, such as “It’s Greek to me” (Julius Caesar) and “All’s well that ends well” (All’s Well that Ends Well).
It’s unbelievable how much influence Shakespeare has had on our commonly used phrases! I tried to think of another source with such an impact on English. The only book that rivals The Complete Works of Shakespeare for infusing words and phrases into the English language is the Bible–which is actually a collection of 66 written by 40 authors.
Why have Shakespeare’s words become so popular in our society? How is it that a 16th/17th century poet and playwright still exerts so much sway over our language today? Will any other author ever have such an impact?
What Shakespearean phrases do you most like? Do you have others to add to my list?
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