Words, Words, Words (and Expressions)
On the internet Shakespeare is said to have created 800, 1,000, even 5,000 words in the English language. This doesn't make sense (in regard to individual words), as if he created so many new words to the English language, no one in his audiences would have understood what was going on in any of his plays. Although the internet can be a helpful resource with extensive information, not all of it is true. Using tools such as the google Operator codes (e.g. "site:edu") I was able to locate a legitimate source for Shakespeare's important contribution to our ever-expanding language.
From Rice University, here is a list of words and expressions coined by Shakespeare:
From Rice University, here is a list of words and expressions coined by Shakespeare:
Nouns
accused addiction alligator amazement anchovies assassination backing bandit bedroom bump buzzers courtship critic dauntless dawn design dickens discontent embrace employer engagements excitements exposure eyeball fixture futurity glow gust hint immediacy investments kickshaws leapfrog luggage manager mimic misgiving mountaineer ode outbreak pageantry pedant perusal questioning reinforcement retirement roadway rumination savagery scuffles shudders switch tardiness transcendence urging watchdog wormhole zany Adjectives aerial auspicious baseless beached bloodstained blushing circumstantial consanguineous deafening disgraceful domineering enrapt epileptic equivocal eventful fashionable foregone frugal generous gloomy gnarled hush inaudible invulnerable jaded juiced lackluster laughable lonely lustrous madcap majestic marketable monumental nervy noiseless oscene olympian premeditated promethean quarrelsome radiance rancorous reclusive remorseless rival sacrificial sanctimonious softhearted splitting stealthy traditional tranquil unmitigated unreal varied vaulting viewless widowed worthless yelping |
Verbs
besmirch bet blanket cake cater champion compromise cow denote deracinate dialogue dislocate divest drug dwindle elbow enmesh film forward gossip grovel hobnob humour hurry impedes jet jig label lapse lower misquote negotiate numb pander partner petition puke rant reword secure submerge swagger torture unclog Adverbs
importantly instinctively obsequiously threateningly tightly trippingly unaware Popular expressions
Bated breath (The Merchant of Venice) To be-all and the end-all (Macbeth) To beggar description (Antony and Cleopatra) We have seen better days (As You Like It) A blinking idiot (The Merchant of Venice) Brave new world (The Tempest) Brevity is the soul of wit (Hamlet) Cruel to be kind (Hamlet) A dish fit for the Gods (Julius Caesar) He hath eaten me out of house and home (Henry IV Part 2) Foregone conclusion (Othello) Laid on with a trowel (As You Like It) Neither rhyme nor reason (The Comedy of Errors) Short shrift (Richard III) Sterner stuff (Julius Caesar) Too much of a good thing (As You Like It) A tower of strength (Richard III) Wild-goose chase (Romeo and Juliet) |