Have you ever used a quote or phrase, but were totally unaware how you knew it or where you learned it? There are very familiar ones that are easy to pinpoint like…”O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo”? That’s Shakespeare right?? Quoting Shakespeare is often attributed to the more literate among us…but I think you might be surprise just how literate you are…. I’d also bet you’d be surprised to know just how often you have been quoting Shakespeare in your every day speech.

Things we quote from Shakespeare….

Quotes like…he has a “heart of gold”….”good riddance” to them…she has “seen better days” are artful things we commonly use that are attributed to William Shakespeare. So, pat yourself on the back for being among those you thought were more well read that yourself. Take a look at the number of things we say today that originated from the bard himself..

I’ve read that Shakespeare made up words when he could’t find the right one to describe what he wanted. Some scholars report as many as 1700 words were first recorded in his works.

Examples Of Commonly Used Words Shakespeare Created

It is Shakespeare who is credited with creating the following list of words that some of us still use daily…….accommodation, aerial, amazement, apostrophe, assassination, auspicious, baseless, bloody, bump, castigate, countless, gloomy, impartial, inauspicious, indistinguishable. Along with these everyday words invented by Shakespeare, he also created a number of words in his plays that never quite caught on in the same way… Shakespearean words like ‘Armgaunt’, ‘Eftes’, ‘Impeticos’, ‘Insisture’, ‘Pajock’, ‘Pioned’ ‘Ribaudred’ and ‘Wappened’.

This is not uncommon but demonstrates a desire to express some thought, emotion or name to fit what has yet to be described in a word. My daughter used the words Blompiscontay and Chillypoppa quite a bit when she was young girl express emotions she had or she could not find the right word for.

Words have power…they move hearts, minds and bodies….they should never be diminished. Words from the heart should never be left unsaid. Kind words don’t cost much but can be precious gifts…wise words could live on and become your legacy. We may not all be as proficient a wordsmith as William Shakespeare, but if you find yourself unable to express the indescribable …..make up a word or two of your own. Who knows one day you might hear yourself saying “just get off your blompiscantay” or “Come on give it all the chillypoppa you got.”….