Shakespearean Insults
Shakespearean
Insults
Sierra Baker 4B
Sierra Baker 4B
Who was William Shakespeare?
• English poet and
playwright
• Writer of 37 plays
• Inventor of over 1,700
words
• Second most quoted
writer
“Thou Crusty Batch of Nature.”
• Used in the Shakespearean tragedy “Troilus
and Cressida”
• Used in a joking context
“Peace, ye fat-kidneyed rascal! What a
brawling dost thou keep!”
• Interprets to “Silence, you fat rascal! What a
scene you’re making!”
• Used in Shakespearean play Henry IV, Part I
“Foul-spoken coward, that thund’rest with
thy tounge, and with thy weapon nothing
dar’st perform!”
• Fighting words
• Basically means that the subject is all talk
• Used in “Titus Andronicus,” a Shakespearean
tragedy.
Scratching could not make it worse an
’twere such a face as
yours were.
Means that scratching would not make the
person’s face worse, because it is already very
ugly.
• Originates from Shakespeare’s comedy, “Much
Ado About Nothing”
“I do desire we may be better
strangers”
Means “I wish we didn’t know each other.”
First used in the comedy by William
Shakespeare “As You Like It”, written in 1599
“Out of my sight! Thou dost infect
mine eyes!”
• Means “Get away from me, you’re
poisoning my eyes!”
This insult originates from Shakespeare’s
historical play, Richard III
“Do Thou Amend Thy Face, and I’ll
Amend My Life”
• Interprets to “When you fix your face, I will
fix my life.”
• Used in Shakespearean play Henry IV, Part I
Then vs. Now
• Not much has changed, very similar
• Different vocabulary to portray the same
meaning
Work Cited
• http://www.literarygenius.info/shakespeare-insults-dictionary.htm
• http://www.shakespeare-online.com/quotes/shakespeareinsults.html
• http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/play_view.php?WorkI
D=henry4p1&Act=2&Scene=2&Scope=scene
• http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/play_view.php?WorkI
D=henry6p2&Act=5&Scene=1&Scope=scene
• http://shakespeare.mit.edu/2henryvi/2henryvi.5.1.html
• http://www.plimoth.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1//9df78eab33
525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/r/e/retail_30_6-21-11_001.jpg (opening
picture)
• http://nfs.sparknotes.com/henry4pt1/page_163.html
• http://www.bachelorsdegree.org/2011/05/22/20-epic-shakespeareinsults-every-drama-geek-should-know/
• http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/wordsinvented.html