Talk:Family Secrets

[Aside]

But it's a house of ill repute. Ay, but of good reputation.

adventure my discretion

Well, God give thee the spirit of persuasion and him the ears of profiting, that what thou speakest may move and what he hears may be believed, that the true prince may, for recreation sake, prove a false thief; for the poor abuses of the time want countenance. Farewell: you shall find me in Eastcheap.

My lord, I will use them according to their desert.

God's bodykins, man, much better: use every man after his desert, and who should 'scape whipping? Use them after your own honour and dignity: the less they deserve, the more merit is in your bounty.

Yea

By my sword

By my - something unimportant

MARIA You are resolute, then? Clown Not so, neither; but I am resolved on two points. MARIA That if one break, the other will hold; or, if both break, your gaskins fall.

I can gleek upon occasion - play practical jokes

prithee

against the hair

alarum'd - summoned to action.

anters - caves

asquint - crookedly, falsely

bastinado - thrashing or cudgeling

beggarly account - very small number

berattle - abuse.

betoken - indicate

bodkin - dagger

bring the device to the bar - bring the trick out into the open, to be judged (a flavor of the law is in these words)

busky - bushy

carrion men - decaying corpses

carrions - living carcasses

charmingly - for the Elizabethans the word "charm" usually carried a reference to magic, as it does here

chinks cash (from the clatter of the coins)

compass - bring about

contemned love - love that is given but not returned

coystrill - knave or base fellow

crush a cup - a common colloquial expression in Elizabethan English comparable to "crack open a bottle

dallying - fondling one another

dear account - sad reckoning. In Elizabethan English the word "dear" intensified the meaning - you could have a "dear friend" and a "dear enemy."

dismount thy tuck - take thy rapier out of its scabbard or sheath. (Twelfth Night)

dormouse valour - small amount of bravery. (Twelfth Night)

doublet - lined jacket

drabbing - associating with prostitutes

dram - small amount

drops of sorrow - tears

drossy - frivolous

dwell on form - do the proper thing (in the formal, conventional way)

encave - hide

enchafed - angry

ensteeped - submerged

fain - glad, gladly, willingly

fashion - shape to our purpose

fleer - scorn, or mock at. (Romeo and Juliet)

fleering - the Elizabethan meaning combined our "fawning" and "sneering."

flirt-gills - loose women. "Gill" was a familiar or contemptuous term for a girl (as "Jack" for a boy)

flote - flood, and hence also sea

fopped - duped

fordid - destroyed

frieze - rough cloth

frippery - old-clothes shop

fulsome - fat

gaskins - breeches. (Twelfth Night)

gentle - noble, or well-born; mild or amiable

gleek - jest, mock. (Romeo and Juliet)

goatish - the goat was frequently used to represent lechery by the Elizabethans. (King Lear)

grace for grace - favor in return for favor. (Romeo and Juliet)

gull - deceive and trick. (Twelfth Night)

have at thee - on guard! (Romeo and Juliet)

heavy summons - a feeling of heavy drowsiness. (Macbeth)

hold carelessly - think little of someone. (Romeo and Juliet)

hunts-up - originally the sound that roused huntsmen, this expression means any morning greeting. (Romeo and Juliet)

hurlyburly - the noise and confusion of battle.

livings - possessions. (The Merchant of Venice)

loath - reluctant. (Twelfth Night)

marchpane - confectionery made of almond paste, sugar, and marzipan.

miching mallecho - slinking mischief. (Hamlet)

minion - darling, favorite. (Macbeth)

mortal arbitrament - settle a dispute by duelling to the death of one contestant. (Twelfth Night)

mountebanks - charlatans who sell quack medicine. (Othello)

mouse-hunt - one who runs after women. (Romeo and Juliet)

mow - make faces. (The Tempest)

much ado - much trouble, fuss. (King Lear)

naughty - insolent, wicked. A stronger term for the Elizabethans than for us. (Julius Caesar)

nothing jealous - have no doubt. Frequently used by Elizabethans. (Julius Caesar)

of wax - i.e., as handsome as if he had been modeled in wax, finer than men usually are. (Romeo and Juliet)

on the hip - at my mercy. (Othello)

ordinary - a tavern. (Julius Caesar)

outface them - get the better of them. (The Merchant of Venice)

pard or cat o' mountain - leopard. (The Tempest)

paunch - stab. (The Tempest)

pout'st upon - treat with contempt. (Romeo and Juliet)

practicing upon - plotting against. (Othello)

primy - in its prime, youthful. (Hamlet)

purple-hued malt-worm - purplefaced beer-drinkers. (King Henry IV, Part 1)

quaint - the word has various Elizabethan meanings: skillful, ingenious, delicate, elegant. (The Tempest)

quick mettle - mentally sharp. (Julius Caesar)

reechy - literally smoky, foul. (Hamlet)

reeking - sweating. (King Lear)

remembrances - love-tokens. (Hamlet)

rest you merry - a colloquial term of farewell, comparable to our "All the best!" (Romeo and Juliet)

reverb no hollowness - i.e., make no noise, as a hollow vessel does when it is struck. (King Lear)

rouse - draught of liquor, bumper, toast. (Hamlet)

rump-fed - fed with expensive cuts of meat. (Macbeth)

sable silver'd - black streaked with white. (Hamlet)

sallies - sudden advances in battle. (King Henry IV, Part 1)

scotch'd - slashed, gashed. (Macbeth)

scrimers - fencers. (Hamlet)

shoon - shoes. (Hamlet)

sick offence - harmful illness. (Julius Caesar)

signifying nothing - lacking sense or meaning. (Macbeth)

slipp'd the hour - passed the appointed time. (Macbeth)

Soft you! - i.e., Hold on; wait. (Hamlet) (Julius Caesar)

spongy - drunk, saturated with liquor. (Macbeth)

stand close - stand back, conceal yourself. (Julius Caesar)

still - always. A common Elizabethan use. (Hamlet)

stoup - cup, flagon, or tankard. (Twelfth Night) (Hamlet)

stronds - shores. (King Henry IV, Part 1)

swashing blow - knock-out blow. (Romeo and Juliet)

tenders - offers. (Hamlet)

traffic - trade, commerce. (The Tempest)

travelling lamp - the sun. (Macbeth)

trencher - wooden plate, lit. one to cut food upon. (Romeo and Juliet)

trimmed - dressed up. (Othello)

unbruised - unspoiled. (Romeo and Juliet)

unprevailing - futile. (Hamlet)

untaught - unmannerly, ignorant. (Romeo and Juliet)

untented - uncurable; to "tent" a wound was to probe and clean it. (King Lear)

unyoke - i.e., consider your day's work done. (Hamlet)

varnished faces - i.e., wearing painted masks. (The Merchant of Venice)

vestal livery - virgin uniform. (Romeo and Juliet)

villanies - evil qualities. (Macbeth)

virgin hue - whiteness; the Elizabethans usually spoke of silver as being white. (The Merchant of Venice)

vizards - masks. (Macbeth)

vulgar, the - the common people. (Julius Caesar)

want-wit - one who lacks wits. (The Merchant of Venice)

weird sisters - weird, meant fateful, as in the three fates of Graeco-Roman mythology. (Macbeth)

well conceited - both correctly conceived and aptly expressed. (Julius Caesar)

whe'r - frequent in Shakespeare for whether. (Julius Caesar)

will he, nill he - willy-nilly, whether he wishes or not. (Hamlet)

wilt - must. (Romeo and Juliet)

yerked - stabbed. (Othello)

yoeman - a property owner, but beneath a gentleman in social rank. (King Lear)

your mind hold - if you don't change your mind; if you are still sane