58 is mistook has been delivered to the wrong person
58 importeth concerns
61 neck … wax i.e. wax seal (recalls wringing the neck of a capon)
61 give ear listen
63 infallible certain
65 commiseration pity
66 vassal servant/slave
66 illustrate illustrious, renowned
67 pernicious wicked (possibly Armado’s error for “penurious”)
67 indubitate undoubted
68 Veni, vidi, vici “I came, I saw, I conquered” (Latin), Julius Caesar’s famous phrase
69 annothanize explain; perhaps a fusion of “anatomize” and “annotate”
69 vulgar vernacular
70 videlicet “namely” (Latin)
70 see saw
70 overcame conquered; possibly goes on to assume sexual connotations
76 catastrophe conclusion
79 lowliness poverty, low status
81 tittles insignificant particles
82 expecting awaiting
82 profane desecrate
83 thy picture (mental) image
84 dearest … industry most heartfelt intention of industrious gallantry
86 Nemean lion slain by Hercules as the first of his twelve labors
88 Submissive fall if you fall submissively
89 forage hunting
90 strive resist
91 repasture food
92 plume of feathers showy idiot
92 indited composed
93 vane weathervane (i.e. changeable)
94 but I if I do not
95 Else otherwise
95 going o’er reading/climbing over (generating a pun on style/stile)
95 erewhile a short time ago
96 keeps lodges
97 phantasime one full of fantasies
97 Monarcho nickname of a pretentious Italian who frequented the Elizabethan court
98 To for
98 book-mates fellow students
107 mistaken wrongly delivered
108 up away
108 thine i.e. your turn
109 shooter archer, i.e. who is to shoot next (puns on “suitor”)
111 continent container
113 put off evaded
114 horns i.e. deer
115 horns i.e. cuckold’s horns (which supposedly grew on the head of a man with an unfaithful wife)
115 miscarry are scarce
116 put on hit
118 deer puns on “dear”
119 If … near i.e. not you; Rosaline dismisses Boyet either because he has a cuckold’s horns or lacks the (suggestively phallic) horns of a mature deer
121 strikes … brow takes aim at the deer’s head/accuses you of cuckoldry
123 lower i.e. in the heart/genitals
123 hit her scored wittily/sexually
124 come upon answer (perhaps with sexual connotations)
125 a man i.e. old
125 King Pepin eighth-century king
126 hit it name of a popular song and dance (plays on sense of “sex”)
128 Queen Guinevere wife of King Arthur, who was unfaithful to her husband
133 An if
134 fit it unite lyrics and meter (plays on sense of “have sex”)
135 mark target
136 mark but only take note of
137 mark target/female genitals
137 prick bull’s-eye/penis
137 mete aim (puns on “mate”)
138 Wide o’the’bow hand wide of the mark on the left side (bow plays on sense of “vagina”)
138 out inaccurate/out of practice
139 shoot plays on sense of “ejaculate”
139 clout cloth patch at the center of the target (plays on sense of “vulva”)
140 out i.e. of practice in archery/sexually
140 in i.e. in practice
141 upshoot best shot/ejaculation
141 cleaving the pin splitting the peg at the center of the target/stimulating his penis
143 hard good/sexually impenetrable
143 pricks archery targets/penises
143 bowl play at bowls (possible play on “masturbate you”)
144 rubbing of the bowling ball against impediments/masturbatory friction
144 owl “to take owl” was to take offense; pronounced to rhyme with bowl it puns on “hole” (vagina)
145 clown rustic
147 incony fine, pronounced “incunny,” perhaps punning on “coney”/French con (“cunt”)
147 vulgar common, probably Costard’s mistake for the opposite
148 obscenely malapropism, perhaps for “seemly,” appropriate for the preceding dialogue; there may also be innuendo in comes so smoothly off and so fit
149 dainty fastidious/elegant
153 pathetical nit touching little fellow
154 Sola a hunting cry
4.2 pedant schoolteacher
1 reverend worth respect
1, 2 in the testimony with the warrant
3 sanguis, in blood in finest condition
4 now at one moment
5 anon at the next moment
6 crab crab apple
8 at the least to say the least
9 buck … head five-year-old male deer (i.e. having just grown antlers)
10 haud credo “I do not believe it” (Latin; Dull understands something like “old gray doe”)
11 pricket two-year-old male deer
12 intimation intrusion
13 insinuation introduction
13 explication detailed description
13 facere to make (Holofernes sprinkles his speech with Latin terms)
14 replication reply
15 after in keeping with
15 undressed unkempt
16 untrained uninstructed/poorly managed horticulturally
16 unlettered illiterate
16 ratherest most of all
17 unconfirmed inexperienced/ignorant
17 insert introduce/substitute intrusively
20 Twice-sod doubly boiled
20 bis coctus “twice cooked”
22 of on
23 eat eaten
25 sensible capable of perception
27 Which as
27 feeling sensitivity
27 fructify bear fruit
29 So … learning it would be like trying to educate a fool/clumsily patching learning’s fabric
30 omne bene “all is well”
30 of … mind in agreement with one of the Church Fathers (early Christian authorities)
31 Many … wind i.e. one has to put up with what one can’t change
31 brook endure
33 Cain’s birth i.e. at the beginning of creation (Cain was Adam and Eve’s son)
34 Dictynna one of the names of the Roman moon goddess
34 goodman title for someone below the rank of gentleman
36 Phoebe, to Luna other names for the moon goddess
37 no more no older
38 raught reached
38 fivescore one hundred (five times twenty)
39 Th’allusion … exchange the riddle remains valid even if one substitutes Cain’s name for Adam’s
40 collusion verbal trick (unwittingly correct as this is a malapropism for allusion)
41 comfort help
41 capacity mental ability
43 pollution corruption (of what he has said); another malapropism for allusion
46 extemporal improvised
49 Perge “proceed”
50 abrogate scurrility do away with coarse language
51 something … letter make some use of alliteration
51 argues facility demonstrates linguistic fluency
52 preyful killing much prey/intent on hunting/sexually hungry
52 pricket two-year-old male deer, with play on “penis”
53 say say it was
53 sore wounded, with play on “sexually infected”
53 sore four-year-old male deer, with play on “vulva”
53 shooting being shot at/ejaculating
54 ‘L’ sound of the dogs’ yelling/letter “L”
54 sorrel three-year-old male deer/L added to sore/sore penis (an “ell” was a measure of length and euphemism for “penis”)
54 thicket plays on sense of vagina/pubic hair
55 Or … sorrel i.e. whatever kind of deer it was
55 fall a-hooting begin calling out
56 sore be sore the deer is wounded
56 fifty sores L is the Roman numeral for fifty; the sores in this sequence also carry connotations of sexual disease
56 o’ out of
57 Of … ‘L’ adding another “L” (fifty) makes one hundred deer
57 more ‘L’ possible pun on “moral” (hidden meaning)
59 talent alternative spelling for “talon”
59 claws scratches/flatters
61 HOLOFERNES in the following sequence Shakespeare seems to have muddled the names of the schoolmaster and the curate, leading the early editions to assign the speeches incorrectly; all editions, including this one, correct for clarity
61 foolish simple/trifling
62 forms images
62 figures rhetorical devices
63 apprehensions conceptions
63 motions inward promptings
63 revolutions reflections
63 begot conceived
64 ventricle brain cavity
64 pia mater membrane covering the brain/brain
65 upon … occasion when the time is right
70 profit benefit/increase (due to pregnancy)
70 under you under your teaching/underneath you (sexually)
72 Mehercle “by Hercules”
72 ingenious clever/intelligent
72 want lack
73 capable able to learn/have sex
73 put … them with sexual connotations
74 vir … loquitur “he’s a wise man who says little” (proverbial)
73 soul feminine i.e. woman
76 Person parson (rustic pronunciation)
77 quasi “as if”
79 likest most like
80 hogshead large cask for drink
81 Of … hogshead broaching a cask/getting drunk
81 lustre of conceit spark of wit
82 turf of earth i.e. person close to the soil
88 Fauste … ruminat “Faustus, while all the cattle are chewing the cud in the cool shade, I pray you …” (opening of the poet Mantuan’s first eclogue, a well-known work at the time)
90 Venetia … pretia “Venice, he that does not see thee does not esteem thee” (Italian proverb)
93 Ut … fa either notes of a scale or snatch of tune
94 Under pardon begging your pardon
95 Horace Latin poet of the first century BC
97 staff stanza
97 Lege, domine “read, master”
102 oaks i.e. firm
102 osiers pliant willows
103 Study … book i.e. the student abandons his inclination and makes your eyes his subject for study
104 art scholarship
105 mark target/vagina
108 Which is for which is owed
108 parts physical or mental attributes
109 Jove Roman king of the gods
110 bent inclined
113 apostrophus apostrophe
114 accent correct emphasis
114 supervise look over
114 canzonet short song/poem
115 numbers ratified metrically correct lines
116 caret (it is) “lacking”
116 Ovidius Naso Roman poet Ovid (Naso means “large-nosed”)
117 odoriferous sweet-smelling
118 fancy imagination
118 jerks sharp speeches
118 Imitari “to imitate”
120 damosella damsel
122 strange foreign
123 overglance look over
123 superscript address
125 intellect meaning, contents
125 nomination name
127 all desired employment any service you wish to put me to
129 framed composed
129 sequent attendant
130 way of progression process of delivery
131 Trip and go move nimbly (phrase from a popular song)
132 concern much be of great importance
133 Stay … compliment don’t wait upon etiquette
133 forgive thy duty excuse the necessary courtesies
135 Have with thee I’ll go with you
137 father Church Father
138 colourable colours plausible explanations (offered by the Church Fathers)
141 pen calligraphy/style
145 undertake … venuto ensure your welcome
148 society company
149 text i.e. the Bible (possibly Ecclesiastes 4:8–12)
151 certes certainly
151 concludes resolves
153 Pauca verba “few words”
153 gentles gentlefolk
153 game sport/hunting/love play
1 coursing hunting (may pun on “cursing”)
2 pitched a toil set up a net
2 toiling … pitch struggling among the sticky thoughts of love
3 defiles pollutes, fouls
3 set thee down settle in
4 I I am
4 mad … sheep when not given the armor of the dead Achilles, Ajax attacked a flock of sheep thinking they were the enemy
10 lie … throat tell enormous lies
10 in in love
16 groan i.e. for love
19 bird-bolt blunt arrow for shooting birds
20 under … pap i.e. where the heart is
20 pap breast
23 eye-beams the eyes were thought to emit beams of light
24 night of dew nightly tears
26 deep sea
34 glasses mirrors
34 still continually
40 thy i.e. the king’s
42 perjure perjurer, oath breaker
42 wearing papers perjurers were punished by having to wear papers stating their offense
44 another … name i.e. another drunkard
47 triumviry triumvirate (i.e. trio)
47 corner-cap three- or four-cornered cap worn by clergymen and academics
47 society fellowship
48 Tyburn place of execution where triangular gallows stood
48 simplicity folly
49 stubborn stiff, rough
49 move i.e. persuade Maria to love him
51 numbers verses/lines of poetry
52 guards decorations/defenses
52 hose breeches
53 shop codpiece
62 grace favor
65 Exhal’st draws up (the sun was thought to draw vapors from the earth)
68 To as to
69 liver vein style of the lover (the liver was thought to be the seat of passion)
70 green goose silly young girl/new prostitute
71 out o’th’way gone astray
73 infant play child’s game
75 heedfully o’er-eye observe attentively
76 sacks … mill cause for laughter (proverbial)
77 woodcocks proverbially stupid birds
79 coxcomb fool (literally, fool’s cap)
81 corporal officer (in Cupid’s army) (plays on “corporeal”)
83 foul as “fowl,” Berowne sarcastically applauds Dumaine’s identification of Katherine’s dark (raven) hair as amber-colored
82 for … quoted makes real amber seem ugly in comparison
82 quoted cited
83 An … noted punning on
85 Stoop curved/come down to earth
86 with child i.e. round
92 Amen/kind of me
92 good word i.e.
93 a as a
95 incision cutting for letting blood
96 in saucers into receptacles/by the saucerful
96 misprision error
98 vary wit inspire new forms of expression/decrease intelligence
101 passing surpassingly
102 wanton playful
105 That so that
105 sick to death made ill from longing (death possibly plays on sense of “orgasm”)
111 unmeet unfitting
112 pluck a sweet plays on sense of “take virginity, have sex”
116 Juno Roman queen of the gods, wife of Jove
116 Ethiope Ethiopian (i.e. dark-complexioned, thought to be unattractive)
117 for to be
122 example provide precedent for
123 perjured note paper pinned to perjurer describing his offense
124 dote love dearly
125 charity Christian love (as opposed to amorous love)
126 That you who
126 society company
128 taken napping caught unawares
129 such i.e. the same
133 wreathèd folded (sign of melancholy)
133 athwart across
135 closely secretly
137 fashion behavior
138 reek emanate
141 troth good faith, a pledge
145 spend expend/exhaust
148 by about
151 grace privilege
152 worms wretches
153 coaches alludes to the coach image in the king’s poem
156 minstrels musicians, entertainers
156 sonneting sonnet-composition
158 o’ershot in error/off course (literally, to have overshot the target)
159 mote speck of dust/fault
160 beam large object/major fault
162 teen grief
164 gnat i.e. insignificant thing
165 gig spinning-top
166 profound wise
166 tuning a jig singing a lively song/dancing
167 Nestor Trojan leader, famed for his wisdom
167 push-pin children’s game
168 Timon Athenian notorious for his misanthropy
168 idle toys trivial games/concerns
172 caudle medicinal gruel
174 over-view inspection
176 honest honorable
182 pruning me preening myself
184 state posture/bearing
186 Soft! Wait a moment!
187 true honest
188 post ride quickly (away)
190 present gift/written document
192 makes treason is treason doing
194 mar spoil (proverbial: “to make or mar”)
197 person parson (i.e. Nathaniel)
197 misdoubts distrusts
204 toy trifle
205 passion powerful emotion
207 whoreson bastard (son of a whore)
207 loggerhead blockhead
210 mess four dining companions
212 pick-purses pickpockets
216 turtles turtledoves—i.e. lovers
217 sirs address acceptable for both men and women
218 Walk … folk i.e. the honest people will leave