Shakespeare's contribution to the English language

William Shakespeare is considered to have been the most important English-language writer in history, as evidenced by the fact that English is often referred to as "the language of Shakespeare".

This prolific playwright, poet and actor wrote tragedies, comedies and historical plays and used more than 28,000 different words. He had a large vocabulary and also created a great many new words, or so it seems.

It is not known whether these words already existed in everyday language or were his invention, but what is clear is that the earliest record of these words is precisely in Shakespeare's plays.

It is said that he created between 1700 and 2000 new words by joining words together, transforming nouns into verbs, transforming verbs into adjectives and adding prefixes and suffixes to existing words.

But not only did he invent new words, he also created expressions that are still in use today. Let's look at some of them according to the play they appear in.

HAMLET
1. Clothes make the man. It means that a person can be judged by the clothes they wear.
What are you going to wear to the interview? You know that clothes make the man.

2. In my heart of hearts. In the deepest part of yourself.
In my heart of hearts I knew something was wrong.

3. My own flesh and blood. A relative.
I will help you in any way I can, after all you are my own flesh and blood.

MACBETH
1. Come what may. No matter what happens.
I'm going to get tickets to the concert come what may.

2. What’s done is done. There's no use in worrying about what has already happened.
What's done is done. Learn from your mistakes and move on.

3. The be-all and end-all. The most important.
For my teenage daughter, her friends are the be-all and end-all of her life right now.

EL MERCADER DE VENECIA
1. The truth will out. The truth will finally be known or discovered.
There is no point in hiding what happened because the truth will out sooner or later.

2. Love is blind. You cannot see the faults of the people we love.
If you are in love you only see the best in the other person. It is true that love is blind.

3. Wait with bated breath. Eagerly or anxiously.
She is waiting for the reply from university with bated breath.

JULIO CÉSAR
1. It's all Greek to me. I don't understand.
All this technical language is all Greek to me.

2. To be made of sterner stuff. Stronger or more determined.
She finally decided not to complain. I thought she was made of sterner stuff.

3. A dish fit for the Gods. Excellent.
You've excelled yourself this time! This cake is a dish fit for the gods.

LA TEMPESTAD
1. To be in a pickle. To be in trouble.
I am in a pickle. I have deleted some important documents by accident.

2. To vanish into thin air. Disappear.
When the police arrived at the bank, the thieves had vanished into thin air.

3. Fair play. According to the rules and behaving in a fair and honest way.
Fair play is essential in any competition.

COMO GUSTÉIS
1. To have seen better days. When something looks shabby or old because of use.
I know you love these shoes, but they've seen better days. You should get new ones.

2. Too much of a good thing. Too much of something wich is usually beneficial can be harmful in the end.
Too much of a good thing can have a negative effect.

3. Neither here nor there. Irrelevant or unimportant.
I don't like his proposal, but that is neither here nor there, as my opinion will not affect his decision.

LA COMEDIA DE LOS ERRORES
1. No rhyme or reason. It doesn't make sense.
There is no rhyme or reason to what you are saying.

2. There is something in the wind. There's something secret going on.
They have been meeting for three hours. There is something in the wind.

3. It’s high time. It's used when you think that something should be done immediately.
It's high time you tidied up your room!

OTHELLO
1. Foregone conclusión. A result you are certain about before it happens.
It's a foregone conclusion that he will win the tennis match.

2. Wear your heart on your sleeve. Show what you are feeling.
It's easy to know how she feels as she always wears her heart in her sleeve.

3. To have the green-eyed monster. Being jealous.
He's got the green-eyed monster because I've been promoted.