As You Like It (35 page)

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Authors: William Shakespeare

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182
apace
swiftly

188
belly
stomach/womb (playing on
drink
in its slang sense of “have sex”)

189
of God’s making
i.e. a real man

193
stay
wait for

197
sad … maid
i.e. seriously and truly

204
Wherein went he?
What was he wearing?

204
makes he
is he doing

208
Gargantua
the giant in François Rabelais’ book
Gargantua
(1534)

210
particulars
details

210
catechism
series of set questions and answers used as a form of instruction by the Church

214
atomies
motes, atoms

214
resolve the propositions
answer the questions

216
relish
flavor

216
good observance
close attention

218
Jove’s tree
oak trees were associated with Jove

220
Give me audience
listen to me

222
along
out

225
“holla”
stop (used to a horse)

225
curvets
leaps about

226
furnished
dressed

227
heart
puns on “hart” (male deer)

228
burden
chorus

232
bring me out
make me forget what I was saying

232
Soft!
Wait a moment!

235
lief
willingly

237
society
company

243
ill-favouredly
poorly

245
just
exactly

251
pretty
clever

252
acquainted
plays on the sense of “sexually familiar”

252
conned
learned by heart

253
rings
which had verses engraved on them (also slang for “vaginas”)

254
right painted cloth
in the manner of a cheap hanging depicting commonplace mythological scenes

255
questions
topics

257
Atalanta
famed for her swiftness

259
breather
i.e. living being

262
change
exchange

264
troth
faith

268
figure
image (Orlando plays on the sense of “number”)

269
cipher
zero

274
saucy lackey
insolent minion

275
habit
appearance

275
play the knave
play a boy/trick him

282
detect
reveal

286
divers
various

291
hard
with an uneasy pace, with difficulty

292
contract … marriage
formal betrothal

293
se’nnight
week (seven nights)

299
lean
unrewarding/thin

299
wasteful
time-wasting/causing one to waste away

300
tedious
troublesome/painful

304
softly
slowly

306
vacation
period during which the law courts are suspended

307
term
period appointed for the sitting of courts of law

309
skirts
outskirts

312
cony
rabbit

312
kindled
born

314
purchase
acquire

314
removed
remote

316
religious
pious/monastic/scrupulous

317
inland
of civilized society

317
courtship
court life/wooing

319
touched
tainted

320
generally
without exception

326
his
its

328
physic
medicine

329
haunts
who hangs around

332
fancy-monger
dealer in love

334
quotidian
daily recurring fever

337
marks
signs, symptoms

338
cage of rushes
i.e. flimsy prison

341
blue
i.e. with dark circles

342
unquestionable
unwilling to be questioned

344
your … revenue
your beard is like a younger brother’s income (i.e. small)

346
ungartered
not tied up

346
unbanded
without a colored hatband

349
point-device
immaculate

349
accoutrements
clothes

349
as
as if

353
apter
more likely

355
still
always

356
sooth
truth

362
merely
entirely

363
dark … do
imprisonment in the dark and whipping were “treatments” for the insane

365
profess
practice, have knowledge in

370
moonish
changeable

371
fantastical
fanciful, impulsive

372
apish
foolish

374
cattle … colour
beasts of this kind

375
entertain
welcome, treat well

376
forswear
deny, reject

376
that
so that

377
drave
drove

377
living
genuine

379
merely
utterly

381
liver
thought to be the seat of the passions

381
sound
healthy

385
cote
cottage

387
by
on

Act 3 Scene 3

1
apace
quickly

2
how
what

3
simple feature
plain appearance (Audrey may understand “specific part/penis”)

4
warrant
protect

6
capricious
lascivious, fickle (from the Latin
caper
meaning “goat”; the wordplay is reinforced by
goats/Goths
having similar pronunciations)

6
Ovid … Goths
Roman poet
Ovid
, author of
The Art of Love
, was banished to live among the
Goths
; he complained that they did not understand his
verses

7
ill-inhabited
poorly lodged

7
Jove … house
having been turned away by others, the disguised
Jove
and his son Mercury were welcomed into the humble dwelling of Philemon and Baucis

10
seconded
backed, supported

10
forward
precocious

11
great … room
large bill for insubstantial accommodation; some critics see a reference to the 1593 tavern murder of playwright Christopher Marlowe, supposedly the result of a dispute about the bill

14
honest
respectable/genuine

17
feigning
imaginative/deceitful

21
honest
truthful/chaste

25
hard-favoured
ugly

27
material
meaningful, full of matter/concerned with earthly things

30
foul
loathsome/filthy/ugly

30
slut
woman of slovenly habits/kitchen maid/whore

31
meat
food (plays on the sense of “penis”)

31
dish
plays on the sense of “vagina”

35
Sir Oliver Martext
“Sir” was sometimes used for priests who were not university graduates;

36
Martext
(mar-text) suggests an uneducated priest who could not expound upon the Scriptures

36
next
nearest

37
couple
marry (plays on the sense of “get us to have sex”)

38
fain
willingly

38
meeting
encounter/sexual union

41
stagger
falter

42
assembly
congregation

42
horn-beasts
suggestive of cuckolds

42
what though
what of it

43
necessary
inevitable

44
knows … goods
i.e. is very well off

47
deer
plays on the sense of “dear”

48
rascal
young or inferior deer in a herd/ordinary husband

49
walled
i.e. fortified

51
defence
possibly plays on type of fortification known as “hornwork”

52
to want
be lacking

55
dispatch us
settle (i.e. marry)

58
on
as the

62
What-ye-call’t
probably a joking reluctance to say “Jaques” (i.e. “jakes” meaning “lavatory”)

63
’ild
yield (i.e. reward)

63
last
most recent (i.e. present)

64
toy in hand
trifle to attend to

65
covered
i.e. put on your (respectfully removed) hat

67
bow
yoke

67
curb
restraining strap attached to the bit

68
bells
attached to the falcon’s leg

69
bill
stroke beak with beak

69
nibbling
having sex/seizing

73
wainscot
wooden paneling

74
green
not dried thoroughly/unseasoned

75
warp
shrink/go wrong

76
I … but
I am inclined to think that

77
of
by

77
like
likely

78
well
properly

82
bawdry
lewdness

84
“O … thee”
lines from a lost Elizabethan ballad, originally paired with a reply; Touchstone rejects the lines of the abandoned woman, in favor of the dismissive answer

84
brave
fine, worthy

87
Wind
wend, go

90
fantastical
capricious, mad

91
flout
mock/jeer

Act 3 Scene 4

6
dissembling
deceitful

6
dissembling … Judas
i.e. reddish, traditionally the hair color of
Judas
, the disciple who betrayed Christ with a kiss

7
his … children
refers to the kiss with which Judas betrayed Christ

10
your
this

11
only
i.e. most desirable

13
holy bread
bread blessed and distributed to those who had not taken Communion; after the Reformation, bread provided for the Eucharist

14
cast
sculpted/cast-off/chaste