Topic: Thank you, William Shakespeare
30 words added to our vocabulary by William Shakespeare:
- Sideman
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Re: Thank you, William Shakespeare
Thanks, Marilyn - that was interesting! If we made up more than word or two in our contemporary writing, we'd be scolded until all politicians spoke only the truth! Those of us in the the music and broadcast business have created a verb from a noun that is now commonly used in the business. We say we are "efforting" (making an effort) to get a certain interview, find the news behind the front page, etc.
My favorite book by Good Old Bill is "Merchant of Venice".
- Mariana Reuter
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Re: Thank you, William Shakespeare
Thanks, Marilyn. Quite interesting. It's amazing that words like catastrophe, that are part of our everyday vocabulary, were invented by the Bard. Cool.
Kiss,
Gacela
4 2018-11-03 08:35:59 (edited by Memphis Trace 2018-11-03 12:07:32)
- Memphis Trace
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Re: Thank you, William Shakespeare
Mariana Reuter wrote:
Thanks, Marilyn. Quite interesting. It's amazing that words like catastrophe, that are part of our everyday vocabulary, were invented by the Bard. Cool.
Kiss,
Gacela
Shakespeare didn't invent catastrophe in the sense he used it in the King Lear referred to in Marilyn's citation https://www.dailywritingtips.com/30-wor … akespeare/ :
catastrophe: disaster, the dramatic event that begins the resolution of the story
And pat! he comes, like the catastrophe of the old comedy. – King Lear
According to Merriam-Webster catastrophe—a Greek word borrowed almost letter for letter from Greek—was first used as Shakespeare used it in King Lear in 1540, 25 years before Shakespeare was born.
It is possible that Shakespeare's simile in King Lear may have been the driving force for our modern meaning of the word, but he hardly invented the word as he used it in King Lear:
When English speakers first borrowed the Greek word catastrophe in the 1500s, they used it for the conclusion or final event of a dramatic work, especially of a tragedy. By the early 1600s, "catastrophe" was being used more generally of any generally unhappy conclusion or disastrous or ruinous end. By the 18th century, "catastrophe" had come to denote truly devastating events, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Finally, it came to be applied to things that are only figuratively catastrophic - burnt dinners, lost luggage, really bad movies, etc.
All that said, as writers we should celebrate and emulate Shakespeare's creative impulse to shape the language by adapting commonly used meanings of words to more forcefully communicate our stories.
Memphis Trace
