It's pretty mind-blowing how much William Shakespeare has influenced our language. He's been gone about 400 years, but we keep using his expressions. All of the following oft-repeated phrases come from the Bard:
All that glitters is not gold
As (good) luck would have it
Bated breath
Be-all and end-all
Discretion is the better part of valor (Orig: The better part of valor is discretion)
Brave new world
Brevity is the sould of wit
Come what may (Orig: Come what come may)
Crack of doom
Dead as a doornail
Devil incarnate
Eaten me out of house and home
Elbow room
Fool's paradise
Forever and a day
For goodness' sake
Foregone conclusion
The game is up
Give the devil his due
Good riddance
It was Greek to me
Heart of gold
Hoist with his own petard
Household words
My kingdom for a horse!
In a pickle
In my mind's eye
Kill with kindness
Killing frost
Knock, Knock! Who's there?
Laughing stock
Lie low
Love is blind
Melted into thin air
There's a method to my madness (Orig: Though this be madness, yet there is method in it)
Milk of human kindness
Naked truth
Neither rhyme nor reason
Not slept one wink
One fell swoop
Out of the jaws of death
Own flesh and blood
Parting is such sweet sorrow
A piece of work
A plague on both your houses
Play fast and loose
Pomp and circumstance
Pound of flesh
Primrose path
Make short shrift
Sick at heart
A sorry sight
Spotless reputation
Still waters run deep (Orig: Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep)
A twice-told tale
Set my teeth on edge
Tell the truth and shame the devil
There's the rub
To thine own self be true
Too much of a good thing
Tower of strength
Wear my heart upon my sleeve
What the dickens
What's done is done
Wild-goose chase
Working-day world
The world's my oyster
Yeoman's service
How many times have you used these expressions, or heard them used? How many did you know originated with the Bard?
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