Why do we study Shakespeare? Thats a mouthful! According to a theory of sociologists who study human nature, the number of words spoken by the average man in a given day are about 10,000. The average woman uses about 25,000 words in a day. NOW Currently there are 500,000 words 1,000,000 words total (including scientific words) WOW! An average adult with English as a first language understands between 50,000 and 250,000 words. Up to 400,000 if you have a large vocabulary like Winston Churchill! HOWEVER. Most people actually use about 10% of the words they understand. So a person who understands 50,000 words probably uses about 5,000. Then Shakespeare used about 29,000 words in his plays and sonnets, so we might estimate that he had a vocabulary of 290,000 words. Shakespeare How many more words than us did he know? What a difference! If we use 5,000 words and we probably know 50,000, how many did Shakespeare know? 290,000 50,000 = 240,000 more words than a modern, average speaking person! No way! In fact, Shakespeare invented about one-third of the words and phrases he used in his plays. Just so you know At that time, the average man had a vocabulary of about 600 words. An educated man's vocabulary included about 2,000 words. However, Shakespeare used some 29,000 words in his plays. How did he do that? He simply made up many of the words he used! Anything goes! In Shakespeare's day, English grammar, spelling and pronunciation were less standardized than they are now, and his use of language helped shape modern English u=v uu=w i/j=i He just made that up! William Shakespeare who coined the phrases - he contributed more phrases and sayings to the English language than any other individual, and most of them are still in daily use. A few of these were 'popularized by' rather than 'coined by' Shakespeare. Stop me if youve heard this one A countenance more in sorrow than in anger A Daniel come to judgement A dish fit for the gods A fool's paradise A foregone conclusion A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse A ministering angel shall my sister be A plague on both your houses A rose by any other name would smell as sweet A sea change A sorry sight Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio All corners of the world A countenance more in sorrow than in anger A Daniel come to judgement A dish fit for the gods A fool's paradise A foregone conclusion A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse A ministering angel shall my sister be A plague on both your houses A rose by any other name would smell as sweet A sea change A sorry sight Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio All corners of the world Youre singing my tune All one to me All that glitters is not gold / All that glisters is not gold All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players All's well that ends well An ill-favoured thing sir, but mine own And shining morning face, creeping like a snail unwillingly to school And thereby hangs a tale As cold as any stone As dead as a doornail As good luck would have it As merry as the day is long As pure as the driven snow At one fell swoop All one to me All that glitters is not gold / All that glisters is not gold All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players All's well that ends well An ill-favoured thing sir, but mine own And shining morning face, creeping like a snail unwillingly to school And thereby hangs a tale As cold as any stone As dead as a doornail As good luck would have it As merry as the day is long As pure as the driven snow At one fell swoop I know that! Bag and baggage Beast with two backs Beware the ides of March Brevity is the soul of wit But, for my own part, it was Greek to me Come the three corners of the world in arms Come what come may Comparisons are odorous Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war Dash to pieces Discretion is the better part of valour Bag and baggage Beast with two backs Beware the ides of March Brevity is the soul of wit But, for my own part, it was Greek to me Come the three corners of the world in arms Come what come may Comparisons are odorous Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war Dash to pieces Discretion is the better part of valour Dj vu Ive heard that before. Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn, and cauldron bubble Eaten out of house and home Et tu, Brute Even at the turning of the tide Exceedingly well read Eye of newt and toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog Fair play Fancy free Fie, foh, and fum, I smell the blood of a British man Fight fire with fire For ever and a day Frailty, thy name is woman Foul play Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn, and cauldron bubble Eaten out of house and home Et tu, Brute Even at the turning of the tide Exceedingly well read Eye of newt and toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog Fair play Fancy free Fie, foh, and fum, I smell the blood of a British man Fight fire with fire For ever and a day Frailty, thy name is woman Foul play You can say that again Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears Good men and true Good riddance Green eyed monster Hark, hark! the lark at heaven's gate sings He will give the Devil his due Heart's content High time His beard was as white as snow Hoist by your own petard Hot-blooded Household words How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears Good men and true Good riddance Green eyed monster Hark, hark! the lark at heaven's gate sings He will give the Devil his due Heart's content High time His beard was as white as snow Hoist by your own petard Hot-blooded Household words How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child Exactly what I was thinking! I bear a charmed life I have not slept one wink I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips I will wear my heart upon my sleeve If music be the food of love, play on In a pickle In my mind's eye, Horatio In stitches In the twinkling of an eye Is this a dagger which I see before me? It beggar'd all description It is meat and drink to me Lay it on with a trowel I bear a charmed life I have not slept one wink I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips I will wear my heart upon my sleeve If music be the food of love, play on In a pickle In my mind's eye, Horatio In stitches In the twinkling of an eye Is this a dagger which I see before me? It beggar'd all description It is meat and drink to me Lay it on with a trowel More to ponder Lie low Like the Dickens Love is blind Make your hair stand on end Men's evil manners live in brass; their virtues we write in water Milk of human kindness Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows More fool you More honoured in the breach than in the observance Much Ado about Nothing My salad days Neither a borrower nor a lender be Lie low Like the Dickens Love is blind Make your hair stand on end Men's evil manners live in brass; their virtues we write in water Milk of human kindness Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows More fool you More honoured in the breach than in the observance Much Ado about Nothing My salad days Neither a borrower nor a lender be And yet again Night owl No more cakes and ale? Now is the winter of our discontent O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo Off with his head Oh, that way madness lies Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more Out of the jaws of death Pound of flesh Primrose path Rhyme nor reason Salad days Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything Send him packing Set your teeth on edge Night owl No more cakes and ale? Now is the winter of our discontent O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo Off with his head Oh, that way madness lies Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more Out of the jaws of death Pound of flesh Primrose path Rhyme nor reason Salad days Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything Send him packing Set your teeth on edge What do you think about that? Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Short shrift Shuffle off this mortal coil Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em Something is rotten in the state of Denmark Star crossed lovers Stiffen the sinews Stony hearted Such stuff as dreams are made on The course of true love never did run smooth The crack of doom Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Short shrift Shuffle off this mortal coil Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em Something is rotten in the state of Denmark Star crossed lovers Stiffen the sinews Stony hearted Such stuff as dreams are made on The course of true love never did run smooth The crack of doom Stop me if youve heard this one. The game is afoot The game is up The quality of mercy is not strained The Queen's English The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune The smallest worm will turn, being trodden on There's method in my madness Thereby hangs a tale This is the short and the long of it This is very midsummer madness This precious stone set in the silver sea, this sceptered isle Though this be madness, yet there is method in it Thus far into the bowels of the land The game is afoot The game is up The quality of mercy is not strained The Queen's English The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune The smallest worm will turn, being trodden on There's method in my madness Thereby hangs a tale This is the short and the long of it This is very midsummer madness This precious stone set in the silver sea, this sceptered isle Though this be madness, yet there is method in it Thus far into the bowels of the land I know that! To be or not to be, that is the question To gild refined gold, to paint the lily To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub Too much of a good thing Truth will out Under the greenwood tree Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown Up in arms Vanish into thin air We few, we happy few, we band of brothers We have seen better days Wear your heart on your sleeve To be or not to be, that is the question To gild refined gold, to paint the lily To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub Too much of a good thing Truth will out Under the greenwood tree Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown Up in arms Vanish into thin air We few, we happy few, we band of brothers We have seen better days Wear your heart on your sleeve Yep! What a piece of work is man What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions While you live, tell truth and shame the Devil! Who wooed in haste, and means to wed at leisure Wild goose chase Woe is me What a piece of work is man What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions While you live, tell truth and shame the Devil! Who wooed in haste, and means to wed at leisure Wild goose chase Woe is me "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts..." As You Like It, Act II, Scene 7, 13942 [25]As You Like It [25] Globe Theater Shakespeare. "He was not of an age, but for all time." Ben JonsonBen Jonson