Episode 38 Learn some English idioms that first appeared in Shakespeare's Plays and Poems

Today we are looking at some of the phrases that appeared in Shakespeare's plays that have become common idioms in the English language.  I know I say goodbye at the end of this podcast, but... remember there is a fun bonus episode you can listen to. I hope you have time to tune in. Remember, if you've found any of this useful, please consider sharing with your friends.  Vocabulary 'That way madness lies.' (King Lear) - If you continued to do this thing or go that way it would be very foolish and stupid. Example: I wish I could understand him. I want to understand why he behaves that way, but I've gone around this so many times, I know, that way madness lies. 'It's not the be all and end all' (Macbeth) - (similar to 'it's not the end of the world') it isn't the absolute, most important thing. Example: I know you're really worried about the interview, but don't worry, getting the job is not the be all and end all. 'He's eating us out of house and home' (Henry IV Part 2) - someone eats a lot of food, more than anyone else. Example: My teenage son is a nightmare! He never stops eating! He's eating me out of house and home! 'They wear their heart on their sleeve' (Othello) - they show their private emotions in an honest, free and relaxed way Example: He's always so honest with his emotions, he's braver than I could be, he always wears his heart on his sleeve. 'There's a method to her madness' (Hamlet) - there's a reason for her crazy behaviour, or it looks like it might be crazy behaviour but actually it's a sensible course of action and will help her get what she wants. Example: They've been playing with that thing all day, it seems like a pointless waste of time, but I'm sure there's method to their madness. That's a barefaced lie! (Midsummer Night's Dream) - When someone is telling an obvious lie without shame. The word 'barefaced' was first used by Shakespeare but we didn't start using the term 'barefaced lie' until much later. The first time we see 'barefaced lie' is in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) And from this point it becomes much more common to use the two together. Now we commonly talk about 'barefaced lies'. Example: He stood there telling barefaced lies to everyone and nobody did anything about it! 'She's got a heart of gold.' (Henry V) - used to describe someone who is very sweet and kind. Example: She works so hard to take care of others, she's got a heart of gold. There are so many websites devoted to explaining and tracking Shakespeare's influence on modern English, if you are interested try Googling some of the phrases we've learned today. This one looks at more of Shakespeare's Idioms. This one looks at more of his words. Additional Vocabulary Coined - when a word or phrase is first written down or captured we say it has been 'coined': 'Shakespeare coined many words'. We also have an idiom 'to coin a phrase', which we usually use right before copy a famous phrase (that's confusing🙄!) Taken from circulation - when something is 'in circulation' it means it is being used by the general public, we might use this phrase to talk about commonly used words, or often money. Blatant - obvious and unhidden Shameless - the person has no shame (and often we think they should have), often used as an insult Philanthropic (fi lan THRO pik) - when rich people use their time or money to help poor people or do charity work Interesting diversion - a 'diversion' is when we go a different way, or have to go a long way around because the normal way is blocked. If something is an 'interesting diversion' then it means we are going to explore it, even though we don't need to, because we might learn something interesting. The root - the cause or beginning of something, the place where it started Bled into our culture - phrasal verb - if something has 'bled into' something else then it means slowly mixed or become a part of, its very similar to Tuesday's 'infiltrated'.

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