Did I Jus Git Somethin' from Shakespeare?
I'm always looking for ways to improve "wot i rite" and that's why I come here...
I saw a thing on TV the other night which got me thinking... (FYI, a UK show called "QI" - Brilliant!)
I wonder what you think?
Am I just drinking too much coffee?
They were talking about Shakespeare - and how he had "invented" many words and phrases still in common use today.
Someone else pointed out that it was more correct to say that he had only committed them to print. That they may have already existed.
What we can say for sure is - these words and phrases have been part of English language and culture for at least 400 years.
As some of the list was read out, I realised that the ideas needed no translations. I knew exactly what each one meant.
Ideas - and sometimes entire concepts - encapsulated in 5 or 6 words...
Surely an editors dream - 5 words doing the work of 20!
All of the words and phrases on that list have been in common use for hundreds of years. Repeated person-to-person. Every day. Millions of times.
A Treasure Trove of Colloquialisms...
I found myself wondering if these phrases are so ingrained into us that they need no longer need decoding.
Decoding is part of the process of reading. Translating speech (or written text) from raw symbols into thought, then into short-term memory. A bit more processing, and then off to long-term memory if required.
If a text is hard to decode, it's not really getting through. It won't have the reader's full attention.
The reader is distracted - because too much 'brainpower' is demanded by the decoding part of the process.
Any new text will be harder to decode.
The opposite of the "greased slide".
If copy is to be a greased slide, you may as well use the slippiest grease available.
Phraseology that requires no decoding must surely help to 'slippy-up' the grease.
Words that require no thinking to understand them - that never stop you in your tracks.
Familiar words...
"An Unrivalled, Time-honored Go-between, twixt Word and Reader. An inducement. That Sneaks in Like A Love Letter..."
(sorry, I just 'cut-an-pasted' that last line using only words from the list at the link below)
I'm not advocating writing like ol' Will, but have a look at this selection.
Each one is a 'shorthand' for something. Like a shortcut to a concept.
And then have a look at the huge list in the link.
Maybe not always 'sizzle', but useful colloquial filler?
Words that slip under the radar...
I'd love to hear your take on this.
I'm going to make another coffee,
Regards,
Kev 'It's All Greek To Me' Stevenson
----------------------------------
* "It's All Greek To Me" (Julius Caesar)
* "Fair Play" (The Tempest)
* "All That Glitters Isn't Gold" (Merchant Of Venice)
* "Wear One's Heart On One's Sleeve" (Othello)
* "Break The Ice" (The Taming Of The Shrew)
* "The Lady Doth Protest Too Much" (Hamlet)
* "Clothes Make The Man" (Hamlet)
* "Too Much Of A Good Thing" (As You Like It)
* "In A Pickle" (The Tempest)
* A Laughing Stock (The Merry Wives Of Windsor)
* A Sorry Sight (Macbeth)
* As Dead As A Doornail (Henry Vi)
* Eaten Out Of House And Home (Henry V, Part 2)
* In Stitches (Twelfth Night)
* In The Twinkling Of An Eye (The Merchant Of Venice)
* Mum's The Word (Henry Vi, Part 2)
* Neither Here Nor There (Othello)
* Send Him Packing (Henry Iv)
* Set Your Teeth On Edge (Henry Iv)
* There's Method In My Madness (Hamlet)
* Too Much Of A Good Thing (As You Like It)
* Vanish Into Thin Air (Othello)
Many more at The List of Words first used by Shakespeare in OED
These words were not all invented by Shakespeare but the earliest citations for them is in the Oxford English Dictionary from Shakespeare.
I saw a thing on TV the other night which got me thinking... (FYI, a UK show called "QI" - Brilliant!)
I wonder what you think?
Am I just drinking too much coffee?
They were talking about Shakespeare - and how he had "invented" many words and phrases still in common use today.
Someone else pointed out that it was more correct to say that he had only committed them to print. That they may have already existed.
What we can say for sure is - these words and phrases have been part of English language and culture for at least 400 years.
As some of the list was read out, I realised that the ideas needed no translations. I knew exactly what each one meant.
Ideas - and sometimes entire concepts - encapsulated in 5 or 6 words...
Surely an editors dream - 5 words doing the work of 20!
All of the words and phrases on that list have been in common use for hundreds of years. Repeated person-to-person. Every day. Millions of times.
A Treasure Trove of Colloquialisms...
I found myself wondering if these phrases are so ingrained into us that they need no longer need decoding.
Decoding is part of the process of reading. Translating speech (or written text) from raw symbols into thought, then into short-term memory. A bit more processing, and then off to long-term memory if required.
If a text is hard to decode, it's not really getting through. It won't have the reader's full attention.
The reader is distracted - because too much 'brainpower' is demanded by the decoding part of the process.
Any new text will be harder to decode.
The opposite of the "greased slide".
If copy is to be a greased slide, you may as well use the slippiest grease available.
Phraseology that requires no decoding must surely help to 'slippy-up' the grease.
Words that require no thinking to understand them - that never stop you in your tracks.
Familiar words...
"An Unrivalled, Time-honored Go-between, twixt Word and Reader. An inducement. That Sneaks in Like A Love Letter..."
(sorry, I just 'cut-an-pasted' that last line using only words from the list at the link below)
I'm not advocating writing like ol' Will, but have a look at this selection.
Each one is a 'shorthand' for something. Like a shortcut to a concept.
And then have a look at the huge list in the link.
Maybe not always 'sizzle', but useful colloquial filler?
Words that slip under the radar...
I'd love to hear your take on this.
I'm going to make another coffee,
Regards,
Kev 'It's All Greek To Me' Stevenson
----------------------------------
* "It's All Greek To Me" (Julius Caesar)
* "Fair Play" (The Tempest)
* "All That Glitters Isn't Gold" (Merchant Of Venice)
* "Wear One's Heart On One's Sleeve" (Othello)
* "Break The Ice" (The Taming Of The Shrew)
* "The Lady Doth Protest Too Much" (Hamlet)
* "Clothes Make The Man" (Hamlet)
* "Too Much Of A Good Thing" (As You Like It)
* "In A Pickle" (The Tempest)
* A Laughing Stock (The Merry Wives Of Windsor)
* A Sorry Sight (Macbeth)
* As Dead As A Doornail (Henry Vi)
* Eaten Out Of House And Home (Henry V, Part 2)
* In Stitches (Twelfth Night)
* In The Twinkling Of An Eye (The Merchant Of Venice)
* Mum's The Word (Henry Vi, Part 2)
* Neither Here Nor There (Othello)
* Send Him Packing (Henry Iv)
* Set Your Teeth On Edge (Henry Iv)
* There's Method In My Madness (Hamlet)
* Too Much Of A Good Thing (As You Like It)
* Vanish Into Thin Air (Othello)
Many more at The List of Words first used by Shakespeare in OED
These words were not all invented by Shakespeare but the earliest citations for them is in the Oxford English Dictionary from Shakespeare.
- Jack Trout