The Taming of the Shrew (32 page)

¹⁵⁸them
probably refers to the priest and his book; possibly refers to the hem of Kate’s skirt with Petruchio claiming to suspect the priest of peeping at her undergarments
any list
anyone is listening/wants to

¹⁶⁰for why
because

¹⁶¹cozen
cheat

¹⁶²many
various

¹⁶⁵quaffed off
drank up, drained
muscadel
a sweet wine

¹⁶⁶sops
pieces of bread or cake placed in wine

¹⁶⁸hungerly
sparsely

¹⁶⁹him
him for

¹⁷⁴rout
company

¹⁷⁶minstrels
musicians

¹⁷⁸think
expect

¹⁷⁹cheer
food and drink

¹⁸⁴Make … wonder
don’t be surprised

¹⁸⁶honest
worthy, kind

¹⁹⁹not stay
not content to stay

²⁰²oats … horses
i.e. the horses are more than ready to gallop (as they have been so well fed)

²⁰⁷be … green
go while your boots are still fresh

²⁰⁹jolly
self-confident, arrogant

²¹⁰take … roundly
behaves so presumptuously from the start

²¹²hast … do
is it to do with you

²¹³stay my leisure
wait until I’m ready

²¹⁴it … work
things are beginning to happen

²²⁰domineer
feast riotously

²²¹Carouse full measure
drink heartily
maidenhead
virginity

²²²mad
high-spirited

²²⁴big
threatening, irate

²²⁶my … anything
an echo of the Tenth Commandment, which lists the possessions one should not covet
chattels
movable possessions

²²⁷stuff
furnishings

²³⁰bring mine action
take legal action against/respond with physical force
proudest he
bravest/most self-assured man

²³⁵buckler
defend (a buckler was a small round shield)

²³⁷Went they not
if they had not gone

²⁴¹Kated
mated
with Kate/infected with “the Kate”

²⁴²wants For to
are lacking to

²⁴⁴junkets
sweetmeats

²⁴⁶room
place

²⁴⁷bride it
play the bride

²foul ways
muddy roads
rayed
dirtied

⁴little … hot
small pot that boils rapidly—i.e. small man who is quick to become angry (proverbial)

⁸taller
braver/ nobler/less short

¹⁰coldly
unenthusiastically/like one who is physically chilly

¹²run
running start

¹⁵fire … water
refers to the musical round “Scotland’s burning, Scotland’s burning / See yonder! See yonder! / Fire, fire! Fire, fire! / Cast on water! Cast on water!”

¹⁶hot
fiery tempered

¹⁸winter … beast
“winter and wedlock tame both man and beast” (proverbial)

²¹beast
Curtis objects to the implication that he is Grumio’s
fellow
after Grumio compares himself to a
beast

²²horn
cuckold’s horn (the sign of a man with an unfaithful wife)

²³so … least
i.e. I/my penis must be at least as long to have made you a cuckold (picking up on the
three-inch
insult)

²⁶hot office
fire-making duty

²⁹do … duty
do your duty and take your dues (wages)

³³Jack … news
alludes to the musical round “Jack boy, ho boy, News: / The cat is in the well”

³⁵cony-catching
trickery (puns on “catch”—i.e. a musical round, such as that quoted by Grumio)

³⁷trimmed
decked out, prepared

³⁸strewed
i.e. on the floor, the usual Elizabethan practice

³⁹fustian
type of coarse cloth

⁴⁰jacks
male servants/leather drinking vessels
jills
female servants/metal drinking vessels (which would need polishing
without
)

⁴¹laid
usually on tables or hung on walls

⁴⁸ha’t
have it, hear it

⁵³sensible
felt by the senses/easily understood

⁵⁵Imprimis
first (Latin)

⁵⁷of
on

⁶⁰crossed
interrupted/irritated

⁶²miry
boggy

⁶³bemoiled
covered with mud

⁶⁷burst
broken

⁶⁸worthy memory
worth remembering

⁶⁹unexperienced
in ignorance

⁷²proudest
bravest

⁷³what
why

⁷⁵blue
traditional color of a servant’s livery

⁷⁶indifferent knit
modest/matching pattern

⁷⁷curtsy
bow
left legs
as a show of subservience (to put your right foot forward was considered arrogant)

⁷⁸kiss their hands
to kiss your own hand was a mark of respect to a superior

⁸³countenance
honor (in the next line Grumio puns on the sense of “face”)

⁸⁸credit
respect (in the next line Grumio puns on the sense of “provide financial credit for”)

⁹⁷spruce
lively/smart

⁹⁸neat
spotless/elegant

¹⁰⁰this
this time

¹⁰¹Cock’s passion
by God’s passion

¹⁰⁷logger-headed
stupid

¹¹¹swain
yokel
whoreson
rogue, son-of-a-whore
malt-horse drudge
plodding idiot (literally, heavy brewer’s horse used to grind malt by working a treadmill)

¹¹²park
enclosed hunting ground

¹¹⁴made
finished

¹¹⁵unpinked
lacking ornamentation

¹¹⁶link
blacking (from a burnt torch)

¹¹⁷come from sheathing
returned from being fitted with a scabbard

¹¹⁸fine
properly dressed

¹²²“Where … those—”
lines from of an old (lost) ballad

¹²⁴Soud
unclear; possibly an exclamation of impatience or despair (many editors emend to “Food”)

¹²⁶when
exclamation of impatience

¹²⁷“It … way”
fragment of a ballad (possibly bawdy, now lost)
friar … grey
Gray friar or Franciscan

¹²⁹Out
exclamation of anger
pluck … awry
pull my foot the wrong way (as you remove my boot)

¹³⁰mend
make a better job of