莎士比亚原创短语出处及解析

?无所不在的莎士比亚
作者：阮一峰
日期： 2006年7月16日
（英语史系列笔记之七）
如果你听不懂我的论点，宣称“It's Greek to me”（你的话像希腊语一样让我听不懂），你实际上是在引用莎士比亚的话。
如果你宣称你是“more sinned against than sinning”（天下人皆负我，而非我负天下人），你就是在引用莎士比亚的话。
如果你回忆起你的“salad days”（色拉岁月，即全盛时期），你就是在引用莎士比亚的话。
如果你的行为是“more in sorrow than in anger”（忧而不怒），如果你的“wish is father to the thought”（愿望是思想之父），如果你丢失的财产“vanished into thin air”（消逝在稀薄的空气中），你就是在引用莎士比亚的话。
如果你曾经坚决“budge an inch”（寸步不让）或者有“green-eyed jealousy”（红眼病），如果你曾一度“played fast and loose”（反复无常），如果你觉得“tongue-tied”（张口结舌）、像“a tower of strength”（力量之塔，即中流砥柱）、被人“hoodwinked”（欺骗）或“in a pickle”（被人腌了菜，即处于困境），如果你“knitted your brows”（拧起眉毛）、“made a virtue of necessity”（把非做不可的事装成出于好心才做）、“insisted on fair play”（坚持要费厄泼赖，即坚持讲公平交易）、“slept not one wink”（整夜未眠）、“stood on ceremony”（讲客气）、“danced attendance on your lord and master”（向主子献媚）、“laughed yourself into stitches”（肚子笑破要缝针了）、做了“short shrift”（临终忏悔）、得到了“cold comfort”（冷安慰，即几乎不起什么作用的安慰）或“too much of a good thing”（事情好得过了头），如果你曾经“seen better days”（走过运）或曾在“fool‘s paradise”（傻瓜天堂，即黄粱美梦）里住过，－－就算你住过又怎么样，结论早就下定，你就是在引用莎士比亚的话。
如果你认为现在是“early days”（为时尚早），因此“clear out bag and baggage”（彻底地收拾东西），如果你觉得现在是“high time”（时候了），而且这就是“the long and short of it”（总的意思），如果你认为“the game is up”（一切都完了），“the truth will be out”（真相终将大白），即便它会牵涉到你自己的“flesh and blood”（血肉），如果你“lie low”（潜伏起来），直到“the crack of doom”（世界末日的霹雳），因为你怀疑人们可能有“foul play”（奸诈行为），如果你“at one fell swoop”（一下子）“teeth set on edge”（感到恼火），又“without rhyme or reason”（毫无道理），那么－－“to give the devil his due”（平心而论）－－如果讲出真话的话，你又是在引用莎士比亚的话了。
即便你“bid”我“good

riddance”（觉得我十分可厌），因此“send”我“packing”（让我卷起铺盖滚蛋），即便你“wish”我“dead”（咒我早死），硬得像根“door-nail”（门钉），即便你觉得我是个“eye-sore”（很刺眼的人）、一个“laughing stock”（笑柄）、“the devil incarnate”（魔鬼的化身）、一个“stony-hearted villain”（石头心肠的恶棍）、“bloody-minded”（心肠冷酷），甚或是个“blinking idiot”（该死的傻瓜）－－“by Jove”（啊）！“O Lord”（老天爷呀）！“Tut，tut”（啧、啧）！“for goodness's sake”（看在老天爷的份上）！“what the dickens”（真是的）！“but me no buts”（别老是跟我说“但是”、“但是”了）－－“it is all one to me”（反正都一样）－－，你又在引用莎士比亚了。
－－英国记者伯纳德·勒文，转引自 The Story of English，by Robert McCrum。

来源：段辛段圣琦的日志莎士比亚原创短语出处及解析莎士比亚对英国语言中短语的贡献远大于任何其他人,这是众所周知的事实。下面是收集到的一些莎翁在其文学作品中使用过的著名格言，尽管有些可能不是莎翁的原创，但都与莎翁有着密切的关系。本文根据网络资源编译。主要参考文献：https://www.360docs.net/doc/077551708.html,/meanings/phrases-sayings-shakespeare.html，谷歌，https://www.360docs.net/doc/077551708.html,/wiki/Main_Page，https://www.360docs.net/doc/077551708.html,/等。其他参考资源详见具体条目。 A countenance more in sorrow than in anger 含义：Literal meaning - a person or thing that is viewed more with sadness than with anger.（看待人事物的态度，悲伤多于愤怒）出自: 《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet） Hamlet: What, look'd he frowningly? Horati A countenance more in sorrow than in anger. A Daniel come to judgement 含义：Someone who makes a wise judgment about something that has previously proven difficult to resolve.（对先前已证明很难解决的问题做出明智的判断。）出自：《威尼斯商人》（The Merchant of Venice） SHYLOCK: A Daniel come to judgment! yea, a Daniel! O wise young judge, how I do honour thee! A dish fit for the gods 含义：An offering of high quality.（一份高品质的供奉物，祭品）出自：《恺撒大帝》（Julius Caesar） Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius, To cut the head off and then hack the limbs, Like wrath in death and envy afterwards; For Antony is but a limb of Caesar: Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius. We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar; And in the spirit of men there is no blood: O, that we then could come by Caesar's spirit, And not dismember Caesar! But, alas, Caesar must bleed for it! And, gentle friends, Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully; Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods... A fool's paradise 含义：A state

of happiness based on false hope(基于虚假希望的幸福状态／愚人的天堂／黄梁美梦) 出自: 《帕斯顿信札》(Paston Letters) 原文: "I wold not be in a folis paradyce." 莎翁后来将该表示法用在了《罗密欧与朱丽叶》(Romeo and Juliet) Nurse: Now, afore God, I am so vexed, that every part about me quivers. Scurvy knave! Pray you, sir, a word: and as I told you, my young lady bade me inquire you out; what she bade me say, I will keep to myself: but first let me tell ye, if ye should lead her into a fool's paradise, as they say, it were a very gross kind of behavior, as they say: for the gentlewoman is young; and, therefore, if you should deal double with her, truly it were an ill thing to be offered to any gentlewoman, and very weak dealing. A foregone conclusion 含义：A decision made before the evidence for it is known. An inevitable conclusion. (预料中的结局、无法避免的结局) 出自: 《奥赛罗》(Othello) OTHELLO: But this denoted a foregone conclusion: 'Tis a shrewd doubt, though it be but a dream. A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse 含义：One of Shakespeare's best known lines. The quotation is sometimes now repeated ironically when someone is in need of some unimportant item. (一匹马，一匹骏马，我的王国需要一匹骏马！／马! 马! 我愿用王位换一匹马!比喻：某人需要不重要的东西) 出自: 《理查三世》(Richard III) CATESBY: Rescue, my Lord of Norfolk, rescue, rescue! The king enacts more wonders than a man, Daring an opposite to every danger: His horse is slain, and all on foot he fights, Seeking for Richmond in the throat of death. Rescue, fair lord, or else the day is lost! KING RICHARD III: A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse! CATESBY: Withdraw, my lord; I'll help you to a horse. A ministering angel shall my sister be 含义：To minister is to serve, or act as a subordinate agent. So, a ministering angel is a kind-hearted person, providing help and comfort.(救死扶伤的天使提供帮助与安慰的好心人) 出自: 《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet） LAERTES: Lay her i' the earth: And from her fair and unpolluted flesh May violets spring! I tell thee, churlish priest, A ministering angel shall my sister be, When thou liest howling. A plague on both your houses 含义：A frustrated curse on both sides of an argument.(争执双方的一种失意的诅咒、咒骂／你们俩都别说了! ) 出自: 《罗密欧与朱丽叶》(Romeo and Juliet) MERCUTIO: I am hurt. A plague o' both your houses! I am sped. Is he gone, and hath nothing? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet 含义：What matters is what something is, not what it is called.(玫瑰无论叫什么名字都是香的。比喻：重要的是事物的本质，不是事物的名字) 出自: 《罗密欧与朱丽叶》(Romeo and Juliet) JULIET: 'Tis but thy name that is my enemy; Thou art thyself, though not

a Montague. What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What's in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet; So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd, Retain that dear perfection which he owes Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name, And for that name which is no part of thee Take all myself. A sea change 含义：A radical, and apparently mystical, change.(根本的、明显又神秘的变化／彻底转变) 出自: 《暴风雨》（The Tempest） ARIEL [sings]: Full fathom five thy father lies; Of his bones are coral made; Those are pearls that were his eyes: Nothing of him that doth fade But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange. Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell A sorry sight 含义：A regrettable and unwelcome aspect or feature. Now also used to mean something or someone of untidy appearance（可惜或不受欢迎的特征。凌乱的特征、邋遢的外貌／惨不忍睹／令人遗憾的一幕）出自: 《麦克白》（Macbeth） MACBETH: Hark! Who lies i' the second chamber? LADY MACBETH: Donalbain. MACBETH: This is a sorry sight. [Looking on his hands] LADY MACBETH: A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight. Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety 含义：她不会因岁月而凋谢，也不会因过时而改变她的姿色/年龄无法使她枯萎，习俗也不能减损她的千姿百态。出自: 《安东尼与克里奥佩特拉》（Antony and Cleopatra） DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS: Never; he will not: Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety: other women cloy The appetites they feed: but she makes hungry Where most she satisfies; for vilest things Become themselves in her: that the holy priests Bless her when she is riggish. Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio 含义：A meditation on the fragility of life. (哎呀，可怜的约里克，赫兄，我认得他。/对于生命脆弱的沉思) 出自: 《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet） HAMLET: Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horati a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rims at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now, to mock your own grinning? quite chap-fallen? Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come; make her laugh at that. All corners of the world 含义：All parts of the world.(世界的每个角落/世界各地) 出自: 《辛白林》((Cymbeline) PISANIO: What shall I need to draw my sword? the paper Hath cut her throat alr

eady. No, 'tis slander, Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue Outvenoms all the worms of Nile, whose breath Rides on the posting winds and doth belie All corners of the world: kings, queens and states, Maids, matrons, nay, the secrets of the grave This viperous slander enters. What cheer, madam? 莎翁还在他的《威尼斯商人》（The Merchant of Venice）在《约翰王》(King John) 中使用了'the four corners of the earth';在《约翰王》(King John) 中使用了'the three corners of the world'. All one to me 含义：An indifference as to the choice between options; one thing is as good as another. (对我来说都一样/对我来说没有区别) 出自: 《特洛伊勒与克莱西达》（Troilus and Cressida） PANDARUS: Because she's kin to me, therefore she's not so fair as Helen: an she were not kin to me, she would be as fair on Friday as Helen is on Sunday. But what care I? I care not an she were a black-a-moor; 'tis all one to me. All that glitters is not gold / All that glisters is not gold 含义：A showy article may not necessarily be valuable.(闪烁者未必是黄金，指绚丽的文采、文章未必是有价值的) 出自: 《威尼斯商人》（The Merchant of Venice) MOROCCO: O hell! what have we here? A carrion Death, within whose empty eye There is a written scroll! I'll read the writing. All that glitters is not gold; Often have you heard that told: Many a man his life hath sold But my outside to behold: Gilded tombs do worms enfold. Had you been as wise as bold, Young in limbs, in judgment old, Your answer had not been inscroll'd: Fare you well; your suit is cold. All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players 含义：Life is like a play - we merely go through the stages of our life acting it out.(生命就像一出戏剧，所有男人、女人都只是演员) 出自: 《皆大欢喜》（ As You Like It ） JAQUES: 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, His acts being seven ages. At first the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side, His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his

sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. All's well that ends well 含义：We have few concerns if things turn out well in the end.(结局是好的，整件事情就是好的/凡事结局好，则全部都好) 出自: 《终成眷属》(All's Well That Ends Well) HELENA: Yet, I pray you: But with the word the time will bring on summer, When briers shall have leaves as well as thorns, And be as sweet as sharp. We must away; Our wagon is prepared, and time revives us: All's well that ends well; still the fine's the crown; Whate'er the course, the end is the renown. An ill-favoured thing sir, but mine own 含义：Literal meaning - it may not be good, but it's the best I have to offer.(这可能不是好的东西，却是我提供的最好的东西) 出自: 《皆大欢喜》（ As You Like It ） TOUCHSTONE: God 'ild you, sir; I desire you of the like. I press in here, sir, amongst the rest of the country copulatives, to swear and to forswear: according as marriage binds and blood breaks: a poor virgin, sir, an ill-favoured thing, sir, but mine own; a poor humour of mine, sir, to take that that no man else will: rich honesty dwells like a miser, sir, in a poor house; as your pearl in your foul oyster. And shining morning face, creeping like a snail unwillingly to school 含义：形容学生: 清晨闪亮的脸庞，如同蜗牛爬行一般，很不想去上学出自: 《皆大欢喜》（ As You Like It ） JAQUES: 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, His acts being seven ages. At first the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side, His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. And thereby hangs a tale 含义：其中大有文章/其中必有文章,说来话长出自: 《皆大欢喜》（ As You Like It ） JAQUES: A fool, a fool! I met a fool i' the forest,

A motley fool; a miserable world! As I do live by food, I met a fool Who laid him down and bask'd him in the sun, And rail'd on Lady Fortune in good terms, In good set terms and yet a motley fool. 'Good morrow, fool,' quoth I. 'No, sir,' quoth he, 'Call me not fool till heaven hath sent me fortune:' And then he drew a dial from his poke, And, looking on it with lack-lustre eye, Says very wisely, 'It is ten o'clock: Thus we may see,' quoth he, 'how the world wags: 'Tis but an hour ago since it was nine, And after one hour more 'twill be eleven; And so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe, And then, from hour to hour, we rot and rot; And thereby hangs a tale.' When I did hear The motley fool thus moral on the time, My lungs began to crow like chanticleer, That fools should be so deep-contemplative, And I did laugh sans intermission An hour by his dial. O noble fool! A worthy fool! Motley's the only wear. As cold as any stone 含义：Very cold.(冷得象石头一样/非常冷/冰冷) 出自: 《亨利五世》（ Henry V ） Hostess: Nay, sure, he's not in hell: he's in Arthur's bosom, if ever man went to Arthur's bosom. A' made a finer end and went away an it had been any christom child; a' parted even just between twelve and one, even at the turning o' the tide: for after I saw him fumble with the sheets and play with flowers and smile upon his fingers' ends, I knew there was but one way; for his nose was as sharp as a pen, and a' babbled of green fields. 'How now, sir John!' quoth I 'what, man! be o' good cheer.' So a' cried out 'God, God, God!' three or four times. Now I, to comfort him, bid him a' should not think of God; I hoped there was no need to trouble himself with any such thoughts yet. So a' bade me lay more clothes on his feet: I put my hand into the bed and felt them, and they were as cold as any stone; then I felt to his knees, and they were as cold as any stone, and so upward and upward, and all was as cold as any stone. As dead as a doornail 含义：Dead - devoid of life (when applied to people, plants or animals). Finished with - unusable (when applied to inanimate objects). (死亡/死僵了/死气沉沉) 出自: 不详。原句为："For but ich haue bote of mi bale I am ded as dorenail."。后来莎翁在《亨利六世》（King Henry VI）引用了这个短语 CADE: Brave thee! ay, by the best blood that ever was broached, and beard thee too. Look on me well: I have eat no meat these five days; yet, come thou and thy five men, and if I do not leave you all as dead as a doornail, I pray God I may never eat grass more. As good luck would have it 含义：By fortunate chance.（藉著幸运的机会）出自: 《温莎的风流娘儿们》(The Merry Wives of Windsor) FALSTAFF: You shall hear. As good luck would have it, comes in one Mistress Page; gives intelligence of Ford's approach; and, in her invention and Ford's wife's distraction, they conveyed me into a buck-basket. As merry as the day

is long 含义：Very merry.（非常愉快/一天到晚非常快乐）出自:《庸人自扰》(Much Ado About Nothing) BEATRICE: No, but to the gate; and there will the devil meet me, like an old cuckold, with horns on his head, and say 'Get you to heaven, Beatrice, get you to heaven; here's no place for you maids:' so deliver I up my apes, and away to Saint Peter for the heavens; he shows me where the bachelors sit, and there live we as merry as the day is long. 在《约翰王》(King John) 中莎翁也使用了这个短语： ARTHUR: Mercy on me! Methinks no body should be sad but I: Yet, I remember, when I was in France, Young gentlemen would be as sad as night, Only for wantonness. By my christendom, So I were out of prison and kept sheep, I should be as merry as the day is long; And so I would be here, but that I doubt My uncle practises more harm to me: He is afraid of me and I of him: Is it my fault that I was Geffrey's son? No, indeed, is't not; and I would to heaven I were your son, so you would love me, Hubert. As pure as the driven snow 含义：Entirely pure.（非常纯净的/纯洁无邪的;玉洁冰清的）尽管原句不是这样，但莎翁却一直把雪比喻为最纯洁、纯净和洁白的东西。例如在奥托吕科斯导演的莎翁剧本《冬天的故事》中，就有：Lawn as white as driven snow；在马尔科姆导演的的《麦克白》有:black Macbeth will seem as pure as snow. At one fell swoop 含义：Suddenly; in a single action.(突然地、一举完成地/刹那间) 出自: 是否莎翁创造或推动该短语的流行并不详，但莎翁在他的戏剧《麦克白》中使用了这个短语。 MACDUFF: [on hearing that his family and servants have all been killed] All my pretty ones? Did you say all? O hell-kite! All? What, all my pretty chickens and their dam At one fell swoop? Bag and baggage 含义：All of one's possessions.（一个人的所有财产、拥有物/连同全部财物）该短语最早为军事术语，意思是：士兵的所有物品。在古代To 'retire bag and baggage' 的意思是，打败体面的撤退，不投降。To 'leave bag and baggage' 在今天表示，撤出一个地方，不留下任何痕迹。在1422年莱默的Foedera戏剧中有："Cum armaturis bonis bogeis, baggagiis.。莎翁后来在他的《皆大欢喜》（ As You Like It ）使用了这个短语。 "Let vs make an honorable retreit, though not with bagge and baggage, yet with scrip and scrippage." Beast with two backs 含义：Partners engaged in sexual intercourse.(性.交的夥伴/交媾) 出自: 该短语具有浓厚的现代气息，但事实上，该短语早在莎翁时代时就已经流行起来。莎翁《奥赛罗》(Othello)中使用了该短语。 Iag "I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs." 该短语最早出现在法国讽剌作家, 幽默作家拉拍雷（Rabelais）的名著《巨人传》

（Gargantua and Pantagruel）里，后由托马斯·厄克特（Thomas Urquhart）翻译成了英文，也许莎翁是最早在英语中使用该短语的人。 Beware the ides of March 含义：注意三月十五日出自: 《凯撒大帝》（Julius Caesar）；Beware the ides of March是占卜者给凯撒大帝预测他的死亡日 the ides of March本身并没有什么特别的意义，只是表示“3月15日”的一种说法。每个月都有一个ides（通常为15日：）该日也并非与死亡有什么联系。 Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks 含义：吹呀，狂风，吹破你的脸颊！出自：《李尔王》King Lear KING LEAR: Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the cocks! You sulphurous and thought-executing fires, Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts, Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder, Smite flat the thick rotundity o' the world! Crack nature's moulds, an germens spill at once, That make ingrateful man! Brevity is the soul of wit 含义：There's no briefer way of expressing this thought than Shakespeare's; making further explanation redundant.( 言以简为贵) 出自: 《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet） LORD POLONIUS This business is well ended. My liege, and madam, to expostulate What majesty should be, what duty is, Why day is day, night night, and time is time, Were nothing but to waste night, day and time. Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit, And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief: your noble son is mad: Mad call I it; for, to define true madness, What is't but to be nothing else but mad? But let that go. But screw your courage to the sticking-place 含义：Be steadfast and of good courage.(要坚定、要有勇气) 出自: 《麦克白》（Macbeth） LADY MACBETH We fail! But screw your courage to the sticking-place, And we'll not fail. But, for my own part, it was Greek to me 含义：It was unintelligible to me. (那件事情让我很难理解、弄懂) 出自: 《凯撒大帝》（Julius Caesar） CASSIUS Did Cicero say any thing? CASCA Ay, he spoke Greek. CASSIUS To what effect? CASCA Nay, an I tell you that, Ill ne'er look you i' the face again: but those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me. I could tell you more news to Marullus and Flavius, for pulling scarfs off Caesar's images, are put to silence. Fare you well. There was more foolery yet, if I could remember it. Come the three corners of the world in arms 含义：将世界的这三个角落武装起来出自: 《约翰王》(King John) Now these her princes are come home again, 124 Come the three corners of the world in arms, And we shall shock them. Nought shall make us rue, If England to itself do rest but true. Come what come may 含义：Let whatever events crop up come to pass. (让任何可能

会发生的事情发生吧) 出自: 《麦克白》（Macbeth）;通常的表现形式为：'come what may' 该短语的最早的版本早在１３７５年就出现于约翰·巴伯尔法文的《布鲁斯》："Thai wuld defend, avalze que valze."；西班牙语中的："que sera sera"（what will be, will be）页早于莎翁的“come what come may”。后该短语传入美国，第一次在美国使用是出现在１８７８年１月４日版的《纽约时报》（The New York Times）："...and should Parliament endorse that sentiment, come what come may, the might of England shall be put forth with a vigour and earnestness worthy of her old fame". Comparisons are odorous 含义：人比人，气死人。该短语的最早使用记录出现于英国诗人约翰 ·利德盖特（John Lydgate）的《马、鹅和羊的辩论》（Debate between the horse, goose, and sheep）中："Odyous of olde been comparisonis, And of comparisonis engendyrd is haterede."；后来又被若干英国剧作家、诗人等引用。改短于第一次出现在莎翁的《庸人自扰》(Much Ado About Nothing) Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war 含义：The military order Havoc! was a signal given to the English military forces in the Middle Ages to direct the soldiery (in Shakespeare's parlance 'the dogs of war') to pillage and chaos. （下达「掠夺令」，制造混乱/发出屠杀的号令,让战争的猛犬四处蹂躏.）该短语首次出现在1385年以法语和拉丁语出版的法典《海军黑皮书》，在“亨利二世战争条例”一节中"Item, qe nul soit si hardy de crier havok sur peine davoir la test coupe." 。而后1525年，在格罗斯（Grose）的《英国陆军史》（History of the English Army）对该短语下了准确的定义：“Likewise be all manner of beasts, when they be brought into the field and cried havoke, then every man to take his part.”。莎翁在他的几部戏剧中都使用了该短语。该短语最早出现在莎翁的《凯撒大帝》（Julius Caesar）： ANTONY: Blood and destruction shall be so in use And dreadful objects so familiar That mothers shall but smile when they behold Their infants quarter'd with the hands of war; All pity choked with custom of fell deeds: And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge, With Ate by his side come hot from hell, Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war; That this foul deed shall smell above the earth With carrion men, groaning for burial. Discretion is the better part of valour 含义：谨慎比勇气更好/勇敢贵在审慎出自: 《亨利四世》(Henry IV) Falstaff: 'The better part of valour is discretion; in the which better part I have saved my life.' Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn, and cauldron bubble 含义：重重陷阱，重重困难，火燃烧起来吧，坩埚里冒着气泡出自: 《麦克白》（Macbeth） Eaten out of house and home

含义：把家吃垮(穷)了/把家吃得倾家荡产出自: 《亨利四世》(Henry IV) MISTRESS QUICKLY: It is more than for some, my lord; it is for all, all I have. He hath eaten me out of house and home; he hath put all my substance into that fat belly of his: but I will have some of it out again, or I will ride thee o' nights like the mare. Et tu, Brute 含义：Supposedly the last words of Julius Caesar. Literally 'And you, Brutus?'.(被认为是凯撒临死前的最后一句话，et tu 是and you的意思,一般译作：还有你吗，布鲁图？/你也有份，布鲁图？) 公元前44年，凯撒大帝被曾是他生前的好友马库斯·布鲁特斯(Marcus Brutus)领导的一些参议员谋杀了，至今，并没有证据证明凯撒大帝说过这句话。这个短语是出现在《凯撒大帝》（Julius Caesar）剧中凯撒与卡斯卡（Casca）的对话。 Caesar: Doth not Brutus bootless kneel? Casca: Speak, hands, for me! [They stab Caesar.] Caesar: Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar! [Dies.] Cinna: Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead! Even at the turning of the tide 含义：The 'turning of the tide' is literally the change of the tide from incoming to outgoing, or vice-versa. Normally the phrase is used to denote some change from a previously stable course of events.（潮流转向/潮汐的转换，是表示原先稳定的事情有了一些变化）。出自: 《亨利五世》（ Henry V ） Hostess: Nay, sure, he's not in hell: he's in Arthur's bosom, if ever man went to Arthur's bosom. A' made a finer end and went away an it had been any christom child; a' parted even just between twelve and one, even at the turning o' the tide: for after I saw him fumble with the sheets and play with flowers and smile upon his fingers' ends, I knew there was but one way; for his nose was as sharp as a pen, and a' babbled of green fields. Exceedingly well read 含义：Erudite and literate. （博学且受过教育的/见多识广）出自: 《亨利四世》(Henry IV) MORTIMER: In faith, he is a worthy gentleman, Exceedingly well read, and profited In strange concealments, valiant as a lion And as wondrous affable and as bountiful As mines of India. Eye of newt and toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog 含义：The archetypal recipe for spells and enchantments.（嵘源的眼睛、青蛙的脚趾、蝙蝠的毛、狗舌头。原本为巫婆用来施咒语的材料）出自: 《麦克白》（Macbeth）中三个巫婆最著名的咒语 All: Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble. Second Witch: Fillet of a fenny snake, In the cauldron boil and bake; Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting, Lizard’s leg, and howlet’s wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. Fair play 含义：Properly conducted conditions for a game, giving all participants an equal chance. Also used m

ore widely to mean fairness and justice in contexts other than games. （公平的竞争）莎翁创造并在他的几部戏剧中都使用了这个短语，例如在《暴风雨》（THE TEMPEST）中： MIRANDA: Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle, And I would call it, fair play. 该短语后来流传到了澳大利亚冰演变为澳洲人最常用的短语“'fair dinkum'（公平，光明正大），后来该短语又进一步演变为 'fair go'(公平对待, 机会均等,公道的比赛) Fancy free 含义：Without any ties or commitments. (没有束缚的) 出自: 《仲夏夜之梦》（A Midsummer Night's Dream） OBERON: That very time I saw, but thou couldst not, Flying between the cold moon and the earth, Cupid all arm'd: a certain aim he took At a fair vestal throned by the west, And loosed his love-shaft smartly from his bow, As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts; But I might see young Cupid's fiery shaft Quench'd in the chaste beams of the watery moon, And the imperial votaress passed on, In maiden meditation, fancy-free. Fie, foh, and fum, I smell the blood of a British man 含义：该短语除了引用莎翁或《杰克和巨人》(Jack the Giant Killer)，并无暗指的含义，因此也没有必要使用该短语。 Fight fire with fire 含义：Respond to an attack by using a similar method as one's attacker.（以其人之道，还治其身）出自: 《约翰王》（King John） Be stirring as the time; be fire with fire; Threaten the threatener and outface the brow Of bragging horror For ever and a day 含义：Indefinitely.（永永远远）出自: 《驯悍记》（The Taming of the Shrew） BIONDELLO I cannot tell; expect they are busied about a counterfeit assurance: take you assurance of her, 'cum privilegio ad imprimendum solum:' to the church; take the priest, clerk, and some sufficient honest witnesses: If this be not that you look for, I have no more to say, But bid Bianca farewell for ever and a day. 该短语之意就是‘for ever’的意思，今天我们使用它没有必要加上‘a day or days’ Frailty, thy name is woman 含义：Alluding to the alleged inherent weakness of character of women.（弱者，你的名字是女人）出自: 《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet） Must I remember? why, she would hang on him, As if increase of appetite had grown By what it fed on: and yet, within a month - Let me not think on't - Frailty, thy name is woman! - A little month, or ere those shoes were old With which she follow'd my poor father's body... 哈姆雷特对他的母亲在哈姆雷特父亲死后一个月内就嫁给雷特的叔叔耿耿于怀，说了这番话。 Foul play 含义：Dishonest or treacherous behaviour; also violent conduct.（犯规、暴力行为、不诚实行为）该短语最早出自16世纪，现在通常用在体育运动上‘不符合体育道德

的行为/(体育比赛中的)犯规动作’，莎翁最早在他的《爱的徒劳》（Love's Labour's Lost）中使用了这个短语,也有可能就是莎翁创造的短语。 BIRON: Honest plain words best pierce the ear of grief; And by these badges understand the king. For your fair sakes have we neglected time, Play'd foul play with our oaths. Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears 出自: 《凯撒大帝》（Julius Caesar）。这是莎翁最著名的一句话。市马克·安东尼的在纪念被谋杀的凯撒大帝的演讲上的开场白。 Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones; So let it be with Caesar. Good men and true 含义：Dependable men, of rank and honour. The phrase was adapted later to 'twelve good men and true', indicating the twelve (originally all men, now both sexes) of a criminal jury. （正直人士，现代用法‘twelve good men and true’表示陪审团）出自:《庸人自扰》(Much Ado About Nothing) DOGBERRY: Are you good men and true? VERGES: Yea, or else it were pity but they should suffer salvation, body and soul. Good riddance 含义：An expression of pleasure on being rid of some annoyance - usually an individual.（可喜的摆脱，用来表示清除社会败类后的喜悦）出自:《特洛伊勒与克莱西达》（Troilus and Cressida） THERSITES I will see you hanged, like clotpoles, ere I come any more to your tents: I will keep where there is wit stirring and leave the faction of fools. PATROCLUS: A good riddance. Green eyed monster 含义：Envy.（绿眼怪；表示嫉妒）青通常使人联想到病态，当人得了重病时，人的皮肤呈淡青或淡黄。莎翁在《威尼斯商人》（ The Merchant of Venice）中使用（也许就是莎翁创造的）乐这个短语，用来表示‘嫉妒’ Portia: How all the other passions fleet to air, As doubtful thoughts, and rash-embraced despair, And shuddering fear, and green-eyed jealousy! O love, Be moderate; allay thy ecstasy, In measure rein thy joy; scant this excess. I feel too much thy blessing: make it less, For fear I surfeit. Hark, hark! the lark at heaven's gate sings 含义：In Shakespeare's Cymbeline, Cloten uses lewd language to talk about Cymbeline. In an attempt to use musicians to court her, he calls on them to play 'a wonderful sweet air'. The hark, hark!... line is chosen to represent sweetness and refinement, as a counterpoint to the previous crudities.（听，快听！那云雀正在天堂之门歌唱；比喻美妙与精致）出自: 《辛伯林》( Cymbeline) CLOTEN: I would this music would come: I am advised to give her music o' mornings; they say it will penetrate. [Enter Musicians] Come on; tune: if you can penetrate her with your fingering, so; we'll try with tongue to if none will do, let her remain; but I'll never give o'er.

First, a very excellent good-conceited thing; after, a wonderful sweet air, with admirable rich words to it: and then let her consider. [Song] Hark, hark! the lark at heaven's gate sings, And Phoebus 'gins arise, His steeds to water at those springs On chaliced flowers that lies; And winking Mary-buds begin To ope their golden eyes: With every thing that pretty is, My lady sweet, arise: Arise, arise. He will give the Devil his due 含义：Literally, pay the devil what you owe him. Used figuratively to mean 'give back what you owe', either money or favours. (把那个家伙应得的给他；譬喻～还清你欠人家的东西/钱/情) 出自: 《亨利四世》(Henry IV) Constable: I will cap that proverb with 'There is flattery in friendship.' Orleans: And I will take up that with 'Give the devil his due. Heart's content 含义：To one's (or your) heart's content means to one's complete inner satisfaction - until one's heart is content. （尽情/心满意足）莎翁至少在他的两部剧中使用了这个短语：《亨利六世》（Henry VI）和《威尼斯商人》(The Merchant of Venice）。我们有理由相信，该短语就是莎翁自己创造的。 High time 含义：The time that something is due (bordering on overdue) to be done. （该做某事的时间/时机成熟之时/正是应该…的时候，是…的时候了/正是时候/快乐时光）最早出自: 《圣经·新约》的《罗马书》中： And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 莎翁在他的《错误的喜剧》（Comedy of Errors）中也使用了该短语： ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE: There's none but witches do inhabit here; And therefore 'tis high time that I were hence. She that doth call me husband, even my soul Doth for a wife abhor. But her fair sister, Possess'd with such a gentle sovereign grace, Of such enchanting presence and discourse, Hath almost made me traitor to myself: But, lest myself be guilty to self-wrong, I'll stop mine ears against the mermaid's song. His beard was as white as snow 含义：Pure white. What better to symbolise whiteness than snow? Not only the intesity of colour on a bright winter's day, but also the purity of untrodden snow is summoned up by the simile. Shakespeare used this association to good effect in as pure as the driven snow. （纯白的/洁白的）在莎翁的《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet）和《圣经》都曾使用len这个短语‘ white as snow’。 ... What if this cursed hand Were thicker than itself with brother's blood, Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens To wash it white as snow? ... Hoist by your own petard 含义：Injured by the device that you intended to use to injure others.（被自己的炸药炸飞出去。比喻：搬石头砸自己的脚）莎翁在他的《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet）中引用了该短语。 "For tis the sport to have the enginer Hoist

with his owne petar". How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child 含义：Literal meaning - it is especially painfull to raise an ungrateful child.（教养不知感恩的孩子是非常痛苦的）出自：《李尔王》King Lear LEAR: It may be so, my lord. Hear, nature, hear; dear goddess, hear! Suspend thy purpose, if thou didst intend To make this creature fruitful! Into her womb convey sterility! Dry up in her the organs of increase; And from her derogate body never spring A babe to honour her! If she must teem, Create her child of spleen; that it may live, And be a thwart disnatured torment to her! Let it stamp wrinkles in her brow of youth; With cadent tears fret channels in her cheeks; Turn all her mother's pains and benefits To laughter and contempt; that she may feel How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is To have a thankless child! Away, away! I bear a charmed life 含义：A life of guaranteed good fortune or invulnerability, by virtue of a charm or spell.（我有护身符）出自: 《麦克白》（Macbeth） MACBETH Thou losest labour: As easy mayst thou the intrenchant air With thy keen sword impress as make me bleed: Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests; I bear a charmed life, which must not yield, To one of woman born. I have not slept one wink 含义：I have not slept at all.（我目前为止都没阖眼过/都没有睡觉） 14世纪初得中世纪英语中，这个短语就流行起来了。莎翁在他的《辛伯林》( Cymbeline) 中引用了这个短语： PISANIO: O gracious lady, Since I received command to do this business I have not slept one wink. I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips 含义：I see you are ready and anxious to depart.（我知道你们已经准备好并且渴望出发了）猎犬比赛前都被套上脖套比赛时在拿掉脖套，这个短语比喻士兵们已经做好了准备，并渴望着上战场。出自: 《亨利四世》(Henry IV) KING HENRY V: Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our English dead. In peace there's nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness and humility: But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Then imitate the action of the tiger; Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage; Then lend the eye a terrible aspect; Let pry through the portage of the head Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it As fearfully as doth a galled rock O'erhang and jutty his confounded base, Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean. Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide, Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit To his full height. On, on, you noblest English. Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof! Fathers that, like so many Alexanders, Have in these parts from morn till even fought And sheathed their swords for lack of argument: Dishonour not your mothers; now attest That those whom you call'd fathers

did beget you. Be copy now to men of grosser blood, And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman, Whose limbs were made in England, show us here The mettle of your pasture; let us swear That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not; For there is none of you so mean and base, That hath not noble lustre in your eyes. I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, Straining upon the start. The game's afoot: Follow your spirit, and upon this charge Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George! I will wear my heart upon my sleeve 含义：Display your feelings openly, for all to see.（我就要掏出我的心放在袖头；比喻：公开表露感情）出自: 《奥赛罗》(Othello) IAGO: It is as sure as you are Roderigo, Were I the Moor, I would not be Iag In following him, I follow but myself; Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty, But seeming so, for my peculiar end: For when my outward action doth demonstrate The native act and figure of my heart In compliment extern, 'tis not long after But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve For daws to peck at: I am not what I am. If music be the food of love, play on 含义：Orsino is asking for more music because he is frustrated in his courtship of Countess Olivia. He muses that an excess of music might cure his obsession with love, in the way that eating too much remove's one's appetite for food.（如果音乐是爱的食物，演奏吧）音乐在莎翁的戏剧中起着重要的作用，并承载着剧情的情节。因此我们有理由推测，莎翁对音乐是“爱的食物”深信不疑。出自: 《第十二夜》（Twelfth night） DUKE ORSINO: If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die. That strain again! it had a dying fall: O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound, That breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing and giving odour! Enough; no more: 'Tis not so sweet now as it was before. O spirit of love! how quick and fresh art thou, That, notwithstanding thy capacity Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there, Of what validity and pitch soe'er, But falls into abatement and low price, Even in a minute: so full of shapes is fancy That it alone is high fantastical. In a pickle 含义：In a quandary or some other difficult position.（非常混乱，乱七八糟；比喻：处境艰难、左右为难的困境／尴尬) 1561年在荷兰语中就出现了“in de pekel zitten”意思是：to be in a pickle。后来也有诸如‘ill pickles’‘this pickle’等表示类似意思的短语。in a pickle可能是莎翁最先使用的形式出自: 《暴风雨》(The Tempest) ALONSO: And Trinculo is reeling ripe: where should they Find this grand liquor that hath gilded 'em? How camest thou in this pickle? TRINCULO: I have been in such a pickle since I saw you last that, I fear me, will never out of my bones: I shall not fear fly-blowing. In my mind's eye, Horatio 含义：One's vi

sual memory or imagination.（人的视觉记忆或视觉想像中）人们拥有'eye in our mind'是古代语言，至少可以追溯到14世纪。最先记载和使用这个短语的是英国作家乔叟在他的《律师的故事》："It were with thilke eyen of his mynde, With whiche men seen, after that they been blynde."。最早使用mind's eye 这种形式的人是休伯特?兰维特（Hubert Languet）1577年在他的一封信中。该短语后来的广为流传是通过莎翁的《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet）。 HAMLET: Thrift, thrift, Horatio! the funeral baked meats Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables. Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven Or ever I had seen that day, Horatio! My father! - methinks I see my father. HORATIO: Where, my lord? HAMLET: In my mind's eye, Horatio. In stitches 含义：Laughing uproariously(大笑、笑破肚皮/笑不可支/笑得前仰后合) 出自: 《第十二夜》（Twelfth night） MARIA: If you desire the spleen, and will laugh yourself into stitches, follow me. Yond gull Malvolio is turned heathen, a very renegado; for there is no Christian, that means to be saved by believing rightly, can ever believe such impossible passages of grossness. He's in yellow stockings. 除了莎翁使用过外，在20世纪前，该短语并未流行起来 In the twinkling of an eye 含义：In an instant.（一下子、立刻、转眼之间）该短语的最早使用记录是出现在1303年的（布鲁内的）罗伯特·曼宁（Robert Manning of Brunne，Brunne表示罗伯特·曼宁是来自Brunne的。参见：https://www.360docs.net/doc/077551708.html,/wiki/Robert_Mannyng）的《处理罪恶》( Handlyng synne）一书中：“Yn twynkelyng of an ye”。圣经中格林多前书的章节中也有这个表示法：“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 莎翁在《威尼斯商人》（The Merchant Of Venice）中，也引用了该短语： "I'll take my leave of the Jew in the twinkling of an eye." Is this a dagger which I see before me? 含义：我面前的是一把剑吗？出自: 《麦克白》（Macbeth） Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable As this which now I draw. 该短语是莎翁戏剧中最著名的台词之一。 It beggar'd all description 含义：那简直没有字眼可以形容／简直无法形容出自: 《安东尼与克里奥佩特拉》（Antony and Cleopatra） DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS: I will tell you. The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne, Burn'd on the water: the poop was beaten gold; Purple the sails, and so perfumed that The winds were lo

ve-sick with them; the oars were silver, Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made The water which they beat to follow faster, As amorous of their strokes. For her own person, It beggar'd all description: she did lie In her pavilion - cloth-of-gold of tissue- O'er-picturing that Venus where we see The fancy outwork nature: on each side her Stood pretty dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids, With divers-colour'd fans, whose wind did seem To glow the delicate cheeks which they did cool, And what they undid did. It is meat and drink to me 含义：Meat and drink in this phrase has two meanings, which appear to be independent of each other. Either, to be a source of support or pleasure or, to be a simple and routine matter.（对我是最好的享受／对我是简单和例行公事。该短语中，肉与酒有两层互不相干的意思，或譬喻支持与欢乐的源泉；或简单和例行公事表示）。至今仍然不清楚meat and drink在约翰·弗里斯（John Frith）1533的A boke answering vnto M. Mores lettur一书中："It is meate and drinke to this childe to playe."到底表示的那层意思。但meat and drink在"It is meat and drinke to me to see a Clowne."（《皆大欢喜》（ As You Like It ））则很清楚的表示前者的意思。 Lay it on with a trowel 含义：To crudely labour a point, or flatter in an overly generous manner.（抬举、恭维、过奖/露骨地吹捧,言过其实）出自: 《皆大欢喜》（ As You Like It ） LE BEAU: Fair princess, you have lost much good sport. CELIA: Sport! of what colour? LE BEAU: What colour, madam! how shall I answer you? ROSALIND: As wit and fortune will. TOUCHSTONE: Or as the Destinies decree. CELIA: Well said: that was laid on with a trowel. Lie low 含义：Keep out of sight; bide one's time. （埋伏/潜伏；等待时机）出自:　《庸人自扰》(Much Ado About Nothing) ANTONIO: If he could right himself with quarreling, Some of us would lie low. 十三世纪时该短语有不同的版本，目前流行的版本是莎翁的版本。最近英国上市了一种名为Li-Los的可充气的床垫。Li-Los就是根据Lie low的发音而起的名字。 Like the Dickens 含义：A lot; as in 'hurts like the dickens'.（如同恶魔一般）出自: 《温莎的风流娘儿们》(The Merry Wives of Windsor) 'I cannot tell what the dickens his name is my husband had him of.' Like the Dickens中的Dickens与英国小说家查理·狄更斯（Charles Dickens）没有任何关系。这里的Dickens是devil的委婉语，可能源于devilkins。 Love is blind 含义：爱情是盲目的出自: 《维洛那二绅士》（Two Gentlemen of Verona）、《亨利五世》（Henry V）、《威尼斯商人》(The Merchant Of Venice）《威尼斯商人》：JESSICA: Here, catch this casket; it is worth the pains. I am glad 'tis night, you do not look on me, For I am much ashamed of my exchange: But love is blind and lover

s cannot see The pretty follies that themselves commit; For if they could, Cupid himself would blush To see me thus transformed to a boy. 该短语是莎翁创造并最喜欢的短语之一。 Make your hair stand on end 含义：Something frightening.（毛骨悚然—）出自: 《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet） "I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres, thy knotted and combined locks to part and each particular hair to stand an end, like quills upon the fretful porpentine." Men's evil manners live in brass; their virtues we write in water 含义：男人的无礼刻在铜上（永久保存），男人的美德写在水里（化为乌有）出自: 《亨利八世》（Henry VIII） GRIFFITH: Noble madam, Men's evil manners live in brass; their virtues We write in water. May it please your highness To hear me speak his good now? Milk of human kindness 含义：Care and compassion for others.（对别人的同情、关心）出自: 《麦克白》（Macbeth） "Yet doe I feare thy Nature, It is too full o' th' Milke of humane kindnesse." Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows 含义：苦难使人认识一些奇怪的同床人。延伸为：我从来不知道还有这样的人存在出自: 《暴风雨》（The Tempest） Alas, the storm is come again! my best way is to creep under his gaberdine; there is no other shelter hereabouts: misery acquaints a man with strange bed-fellows. I will here shroud till the dregs of the storm be past. More fool you 含义：Said in reply to someone who has reported doing something that is considered to be obviously foolish.（愚蠢）出自: 《驯悍记》（The Taming of the Shrew） BIANCA: The more fool you, for laying on my duty. More honoured in the breach than in the observance 含义：This is usually thought to mean a rule which is more often broken than observed. The context of the play shows the real meaning as 'it is more honourable to breach than to observe'.（通常是指规则常常被打破，而没有被遵守／剧本中的意思是，遵守不如不遵守好）出自: 《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet） HAMLET Ay, marry, is't: But to my mind, though I am native here And to the manner born, it is a custom More honour'd in the breach than the observance. Much Ado about Nothing 含义：A great deal of fuss over nothing of importance.（小题大做、无事自扰）出自:　《庸人自扰》(Much Ado About Nothing) "Weele keepe no great adoe, a Friend or two." 有时，该短语得缩写形式为'much ado'，ado在莎翁戏剧中的意思是‘事情或活动’ Mum's the word 含义：Keep quiet - say nothing.（保持安静、不要说话／肃静）出自: 《亨利六世》（Henry VI） "Seal up your lips and give no words but mum." Mum是'mmmmm'嗡鸣声，在这里没有‘母亲’的意思。 My

salad days 含义：The days of one's youthful inexperience.（无忧无虑的年轻岁月）出自: 《安东尼与克里奥佩特拉》（Antony and Cleopatra） CLEOPATRA: My salad days, When I was green in judgment: cold in blood, To say as I said then! But, come, away; Get me ink and paper: He shall have every day a several greeting, Or I'll unpeople Egypt. 当今，‘沙拉日’（Salad days）通常表示年轻人无忧无虑的年轻岁月，有时也用来表示成年后所受到的物质影响。 Neither a borrower nor a lender be 含义：不要向别人借钱，也不要借钱给别人／既不当债户，又不当债主出自: 《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet） LORD POLONIUS: Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. Night owl 含义：A person who is active late at night. （夜猫子，晚上不睡觉的人）出自长诗: 《鲁克丽丝受辱记》（The Rape of Lucrece） This said, his guilty hand pluck'd up the latch, And with his knee the door he opens wide. The dove sleeps fast that this night-owl will catch: Thus treason works ere traitors be espied. Night owl就是owl的意思。Night owl的用法始于１６世纪 No more cakes and ale? 含义：Cakes and ale are synonymous with the good life, like beer and skittles.（蛋糕和麦酒譬喻好日子、好生活）出自: 《第十二夜》（Twelfth night） SIR TOBY BELCH: Out o' tune, sir: ye lie. Art any more than a steward? Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale? 蛋糕常常被人们用来表示好生活，而莎翁是首次使用cakes and ale的人。 Now is the winter of our discontent 含义：The time of unhappiness is past.（不开心、不满足的日子过去了）出自: 《理查三世》(Richard III) GLOUCESTER: Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this sun of York; And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house In the deep bosom of the ocean buried. O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo 含义：罗密欧，罗密欧，罗密欧你在何方？出自: 《罗密欧与朱丽叶》(Romeo and Juliet) 莎翁戏剧中最著名的台词之一。 Off with his head 含义：Literal meaning. That is, 'chop off his head'. It is now usually used humorously as a means of mildly reproaching someone. （砍掉他的头）出自: 《亨利六世》（Henry VI） QUEEN MARGARET: Off with his head, and set it on York gates; So York may overlook the town of York. 莎翁在他的戏剧中多次使用了这个短语，在莎翁之前，没有任何证据显示该短语已经出现。这个短语现在多用来幽默的表示谨慎地责备某人。 Oh, that way madness lies 含义：噢，这样/如此疯狂的谎言出自: 《李尔王》（King Lear） KING LEAR: Thou think'st 'tis much that this contentious storm Invades us to the skin: so 'tis to thee; But where the grea