Party With the Bard

I missed the big 450th birthday bash for William Shakespeare this weekend, but I did eat a slab of chocolate cake in his honor. My personal favorite piece of the Bard's writing is The Taming of the Shrew. What's yours? What's that? You haven't actually read any Shakespeare? No worries. You're probably using Shakespearean language more than you know. Here are some everyday phrases we take for granted that good ol' Will penned himself (unless you buy into the black helicopter conspiracy that he was really Sir Francis Bacon). . .

"Knock knock! Who's there?" - Macbeth
"For goodness sake" - Henry VIII
"All of a sudden" - The Taming of the Shrew
"All's well that ends well" - All's Well That Ends Well
"A wild goose chase" - Romeo and Juliet
"What the dickens" - The Merry Wives of Windsor
"Wear your heart on your sleeve" - Othello

And here are a few words coined by Shakespeare

Zany - Love's Labors Lost
Luggage - King Henry IV
Addiction - Henry V
Worthless - King Henry VI
Lonely - Coriolanus
Skim Milk - King Henry IV
Blanket - King Lear

I could go on and on, but you can click on the links I provided. There's another slab of chocolate cake calling my name.