The Merry Wives of Windsor (31 page)

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Authors: William Shakespeare

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130
great chamber
main room/hall

130
groats
fourpenny coins

131
mill-sixpences
sixpences that had their designs impressed on them in a stamping mill

131
Edward shovel-boards
shillings made in the reign of Edward VI (used in the game of
shovel-board
)

132
Yead
i.e. Ed (Edward)

135
it is false
he is dishonest (Evans responds to “true, Pistol” as if it were “true Pistol”—i.e. “honest Pistol”)

136
mountain-foreigner
i.e. Welshman

137
combat challenge
challenge combat (i.e. trial by combat)

137
latten
brass/tin-plate/thinly hammered

137
bilbo
sword (from Bilbao, Spanish town famed for sword manufacture)

138
labras
lips (from either the Spanish
labros
or the Latin
labra
, both meaning “lips”)

141
Be avised
think carefully/take my advice

141
pass good humours
be agreeable

142
marry
by the Virgin Mary

142
‘marry trap’
contemptuous phrase of uncertain meaning, the general sense of which may be something like “be off with you/mind your own business/you’ve caught yourself out”

142
run … me
behave like a constable

142
nuthook
hooked stick used to pull nuts from trees; slang for “constable”

143
very note
right tune (i.e. the truth); perhaps with a play on “nut”

144
he … face
i.e. Bardolph

147
Scarlet and John
Will Scarlet and Little John were two of Robin Hood’s companions;
Scarlet
is applied to Bardolph because of his drunkard’s red nose

151
fap
drunk cashiered dismissed/got rid of/thrown out of the tavern

152
conclusions … careers
his conclusions about what had happened galloped beyond all bounds

152
career
short gallop at full speed

157
’udge
judge

157
mind
intention

164
leave
permission

166
pasty to
pie for

168
book …
Sonnets
probably
Songs and Sonnets
, a collection of poems, most of them about love, published by Richard Tottel in 1557 and known as
Tottel’s Miscellany

171
Book of Riddles
unidentified; several Elizabethan collections of riddles existed

174
Allhallowmas
All Saints’ Day, November 1

175
Michaelmas
the feast of Saint Michael, September 29; Simple is wrong in saying it is two weeks after
Allhallowmas

176
stay
wait

177
tender
offer (i.e. of marriage, made on behalf of Slender)

178
afar off
indirectly/in a roundabout manner

181
do … reason
i.e. behave in a reasonable manner/cooperate

184
motions
suggestions

185
be capacity of
have the capacity to understand

187
country
district

187
simple … here
as sure as I stand here/although I seem humble/despite my own undistinguished status

195
demands
requests

196
’oman
woman

197
divers
various

198
parcel
part

199
carry … to
feel inclination/affection for (with a quibble on the slang sense of
will
—i.e. “sexual desire/penis”)

204
possitable
malapropism for “positively”

204
carry her
convey/direct

205
upon
providing that she comes with/on the promise of

209
conceive
understand

212
decrease
malapropism for “increase”

216
dissolved
resolved

216
dissolutely
malapropism for “resolutely”

217
fall
i.e. error

218
’ord
word

229
forsooth
in truth

230
attends
waits for

232
sirrah
sir (authoritative)

232
for all
although

234
beholding
indebted

236
what though
what of it

245
fence
fencing

245
veneys
technical (French) term for each assault in a fencing match (from
venu
, “come”); pun (not intended by Slender) on “Venus,” slang for prostitute

245
stewed prunes
known to be a popular dish in brothels (“the stews”)

246
smell … meat
unintentionally suggesting whore’s flesh

249
the sport
bear-baiting, a popular Elizabethan pastime

254
Sackerson
a well-known bear kept at Paris Garden in Southwark

255
warrant
assure

256
passed
was past belief

257
ill-favoured
ugly

260
cock and pie
a mild oath; either a literal reference to fowl and cooked pie or a corruption of “God” and an allusion to the Church rules concerning the celebration of Saints’ days

260
you … choose
polite way of saying “I insist/you have no choice”

265
keep on
go ahead/carry on

1
of
concerning

3
nurse
housekeeper

3
dry nurse
i.e. not a wet nurse, who would look after a baby

4
laundry
laundress

4
wringer
one who wrings out clothes after they have been washed

7
altogether’s acquaintance
is well acquainted

9
solicit
urge/court favor for

10
pippins
apples

2
bully rook
jolly companion/old rogue

6
bully Hercules
old mate Hercules (the Greek hero)

6
cashier
dismiss

6
wag
move on

8
sit at
live here at the cost of

9
Caesar
and
Kaiser

9
Kaiser
emperor

9
Pheazar
vizier (chief minister to a ruler), or possibly a nonsense word to rhyme with

10
entertain
employ

10
draw … tap
withdraw liquor from a cask in the manner of an innkeeper

11
Hector
hero of the Trojan War

14
froth
make the beer froth up on top as a means of serving less lime flavor wine with lime in order to mask its sourness

14
I … word
i.e. without further ado

15
tapster
barman

16
jerkin
close-fitting jacket

19
Hungarian wight
thievish, beggarly person (with a play on “hungry”)

19
spigot
peg used to stop the hole in a cask of liquor

20
gotten in drink
conceived while his parents were drunk

20
Is … conceited
isn’t that an ingenious/witty notion

21
acquit
rid

21
tinderbox
i.e. Bardolph, an inflammable and red-faced man

22
open
obvious

24
good humour
best method/way to do it

24
at … rest
in the space of a minute (
rest
plays on the sense of “moment of silence within a piece of music”)

25
fico
“fig” (Italian; a contemptuous word, sometimes accompanied by the obscene gesture of thrusting the thumb between two fingers)

27
out at heels
out of money (literally, with shoes or stockings worn through)

28
kibes
chilblains

29
shift
provide for myself/live by deception/live on my wits

32
ken the wight
know the person

33
am about
up to (Pistol interprets “measure about the waist”)

37
make love to
court/woo

38
entertainment
welcome/a pleasant reception (with sexual connotations)

38
carves
is a courteous and generous hostess/has sex

39
leer
sideways glance/sexually inviting look

39
construe
interpret/translate/analyze grammatically

39
action
working/oratorical gesture (with sexual connotations)

40
familiar
usual/plain/courteous/overly intimate

40
hardest voice
most severe expression/most difficult grammatical form to translate

41
Englished
translated into English

42
will
inclination/sexual desire/legal document

43
honesty
chastity

44
The … deep
probably “this idea (of Falstaff’s) is firmly entrenched”

44
that humour pass
Falstaff’s frame of mind change/Falstaff’s inclination get him anywhere/my neat expression gain approval

46
legion of angels
great number of gold coins (plays on the sense of “host of heavenly beings”)

47
As … entertain
employ just as many devils

47
To her
a cry of encouragement such as might be used to a hound pursuing prey

48
Humour … angels
let your inclination lead to the acquisition of the money (
me
is emphatic)

48
The humour rises
the wit improves/(Falstaff’s) inclination grows

49
writ me
written

52
oeillades
amorous looks

55
humour
turn of phrase

56
course
run (her eyes)

57
intention
intent observation/purpose

58
burning-glass
magnifying glass

59
purse
plays on sense of “vagina”

59
Guiana
country in South America fabled for its great wealth

60
cheaters
escheator, a district official who supervised escheats, estates that returned to the monarch’s possession in the absence of a valid heir (plays on sense of “sexual cheat, deceiver”)

61
exchequers
treasuries

62
trade
plays on sense of “have sex with”

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