Read The Merry Wives of Windsor Online
Authors: William Shakespeare
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”