# What is your favourite single word of Shakespeare? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 11, 2001, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732 "2001-11-11T04:29:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732/1 "2001-11-11T04:29:07Z")
In [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=97559), **Derleth** mentions his affinity with the word “pignuts” in _The Tempest_. What’s your favourite single word of Shakespeare? Mine has _always_ been “borogoves” from _Macbeth_. (I think Lewis Carroll liked it, too.) ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732/2 "2001-11-11T05:20:21Z")
“Nothing”, after learning what it was a euphemism for. Now, everyday conversations become hilarious and perverse. “What are you doing tonight?” “Nothing.” “What’s on your mind?” “Nothing.” Bwahahahaha! ---
**Author:** ![DPWhite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d26b3c/32.png) [@DPWhite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPWhite)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732/3 "2001-11-11T05:21:35Z")
The rest is “silence” ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732/4 "2001-11-11T05:32:42Z")
“multitudinous” ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732/5 "2001-11-11T05:37:30Z")
Oh, this is a wonderful topic…but I’d have to do a bit more thinking to pick just one. (Though I have to admit “honorificabilitudinitatibus” is a pretty good one… ;)) ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Lord\_Davidson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bc8723/32.png) [@Dark\_Lord\_Davidson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Lord_Davidson)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732/6 "2001-11-11T05:57:40Z")
“Strumpet”, from Taming of the Shrew. ---
**Author:** ![straykat23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@straykat23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straykat23)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732/7 "2001-11-11T06:42:40Z")
“maltworm” ---
**Author:** ![meyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@meyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meyer)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732/8 "2001-11-11T06:47:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BlackKnight \* > \*\*“Nothing”, after learning what it was a euphemism for. > > Now, everyday conversations become hilarious and perverse. > > “What are you doing tonight?” > “Nothing.” > > “What’s on your mind?” > “Nothing.” > > Bwahahahaha! \*\* Okay, I’ll bite. What is it a euphemism for? ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732/9 "2001-11-11T06:50:16Z")
**Methinks** If ever there was such a contradiction… ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732/10 "2001-11-11T06:53:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by meyer \* > \*\*Okay, I’ll bite. What is it a euphemism for? \*\* Usually the female genitalia. (“Thing,” otoh, doesn’t have to be a male reference, though it often is – Shakespeare uses it for the naughty bits of both genders.) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732/11 "2001-11-11T06:58:08Z")
Murther. ---
**Author:** ![tavalla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tavalla/32/89_2.png) [@tavalla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavalla)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732/12 "2001-11-11T07:15:27Z")
Gaskins. ---
**Author:** ![flickerwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/13edae/32.png) [@flickerwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickerwolf)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732/13 "2001-11-11T07:25:29Z")
Hugger-mugger!!! 😃 Used in Hamlet. Means secrecy, but I had a giggle fit when I was reading the passage that contained it in class. ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732/14 "2001-11-11T11:45:43Z")
“Macroks” * * * Plato? Aristotle? Socrates? Morons! ~Only 13 hours until I am hanging with Better Than Ezra! ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732/15 "2001-11-11T15:47:19Z")
“Porpentine” (of course!) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732/16 "2001-11-11T16:04:12Z")
aroint ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732/17 "2001-11-11T17:07:13Z")
I like **gorbellied** (fat, literally shit-bellied) best. **Unpregnant** (stupid, ignorant) and **lewdsters** (lewd men) are good too. **Cox my passion** (apparently a euphemism for “God’s passion”) is certainly interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Nacho4Sara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Nacho4Sara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nacho4Sara)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732/18 "2001-11-11T17:07:43Z")
“Illumined” from _Two Gentlemen of Verona._ It sounds so much prettier and more poetic than the common use. “She is my essense, and I leave to be If I be not by her fair influence Fostered, illumined, cherished, kept alive.” “Damasked” - he uses this in Sonnet…I can’t remember the number, but the one that starts “My mistress’s eyes are nothing like the sun…” I think 130? Also, it appears in _Twelfth Night_. Sonnet 130 (?) “I have seen roses damasked, red and white, but see I no such roses in her cheeks.” _Twelfth Night_ “She never told her love, but let concealment like a worm i’ the bud, feed on her damask cheek.” I just love this word, and I love hearing Judy Dench say it. I try to use it on conversation, but it just never comes out right. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732/19 "2001-11-11T18:31:34Z")
“The” It just works on so many levels, and it has withstood the test of time. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732/20 "2001-11-11T22:31:10Z")
“lug”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favourite-single-word-of-shakespeare/92732.md?page=2)