April 23rd was the 445th anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare. In honor of this occasion, Talk Like Shakespeare Day is celebrated annually. Unfortunately, I seem to always be a few days late on finding that stuff out. If your memories are good enough, here are some ways to celebrate in the future:
Click here to visit the official website and hear a very good song explaining the day.
1. Instead of you, say thou. Instead of y’all, say thee.
2. Rhymed couplets are all the rage.
3. Men are Sirrah, ladies are Mistress, and your friends are all called Cousin.
4. Instead of cursing, try calling your tormentors jackanapes or canker-blossoms or poisonous bunch-back’d toads.
5. Don’t waste time saying "it," just use the letter "t" (’tis, t’will, I’ll do’t).
6. Verse for lovers, prose for ruffians, songs for clowns.
7. When in doubt, add the letters "eth" to the end of verbs (he runneth, he trippeth, he falleth).
8. To add weight to your opinions, try starting them with methinks, mayhaps, in sooth or wherefore.
9. When wooing ladies: try comparing her to a summer’s day. If that fails, say "Get thee to a nunnery!"
10. When wooing lads: try dressing up like a man. If that fails, throw him in the Tower, banish his friends and claim the throne.
Click here to visit the official website and hear a very good song explaining the day.
Nice dating advice...
ReplyDeleteActually, I learned something interesting about Shakespeare's use of "you" verses "thee" in my History of the English language class this semester.
ReplyDeleteBack in Middle English times, the meanings of different forms of second person pronouns were evolving, and Shakespeare, who understood all the nuances of words, used it to his advantage to show relationships between characters. For example, when Juliet first meets Romeo, he's hitting on her by using the informal thee/thou forms. She's spurning his advances by using the more formal, distant you/your forms. Interesting, eh?