How Shakespeare Changed the English Language

[@BubuMarimba]

it's possible to reach Verona from Milan by water, and it was also possible in Shakespeare's time. The journey would involve navigating the Naviglio Grande Canal in Milan, then following the Naviglio Cavour Canal to the Naviglio Martesana Canal, and finally the Naviglio Brenta Canal to Verona. This route was used for centuries to transport goods and passengers between the two cities, and it's still a popular route for boaters today. (Answer provided by AI)

[@LearnRunes]

In a generation not so long ago, the Complete Works of William Shakespeare was one of only two books many families owned. There's a reason for that.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

What was the other?

[@БогданКостюченко-ц4о]

@@LetThemTalkTV Bible, of course.

[@БогданКостюченко-ц4о]

Yes, I have "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare".

[@kayiness]

@@LetThemTalkTVdictionary!

[@proximacentaur1654]

Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy

[@NoLegalPlunder]

Excellent video. I love Shakespeare. The beauty and the depth of his writing is mind-boggling.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

We agree.

[@MrChadbag]

Wherefore. Interesting. In Swedish you have varför (where for) which is “why”. I never thought about that until today.

[@silvinaobregoso3574]

Thanks, Gideon! Very interesting!

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Glad you liked it.

[@isabelatence7035]

Valeu!

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Wow! I'm speechless. That's so generous. Thanks Isabel.

[@Siss2012]

Thanks Gideon! Your videos are great, both educational and entertaining. Shakespeare has written my very favourite passage ever committed to page in the English language, namely: Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. My hair stood on end when I first read it.

[@BubuMarimba]

This is most interesting! Thank you! I bet Shakespeare could listen to many talks of sailors or merchants in the taverns and obtain some characters and information from there. He is also known to "rework old plots" if you know what I mean. And he could obtain the knowledge about nobility from there too. Nobility and the queen was much more visible and accessible in those days than they are now. So he could know more than he was supposed to according to his low status. Anyhow the questions remain. It's like a religion now, is it not? So there are Stratfordians and anti-Stratfordians too. And until the evidence of his works is found, like manuscripts of his plays in his hand (certified by a notary and cross certified by another notary) they will exist. I would not be surprised if those are found one day. I would not be surprised either if a law is issued one day that will prosecute all doubters or deniers.

[@kaloarepo288]

Shakespeare is credited with more new words in the English language than any other writer - next was Geoffrey Chaucer but coming in third place was an Italian -John Florio who was Shakespeare's contemporary who compiled the first Italian-English dictionary and some people even argue that Florio wrote some of the Shakespeare canon -especially the numerous plays set in Italy like Romeo and Juliet, Merchant of Venice, Two gentlemen of Verona, Taming of the Shrew and one or two others. Haven't mentioned the Roman history plays)

[@Sauvageonne]

Shakespeare could encapsulate one book in one sentence. I've stopped reading him on public transport because I can't keep my composure.

[@BethDiane]

There is a many a word whose first appearance is in a play, particularly in Shakespeare's day. But the fact that it's being used in a play implies that people were already using it in speech; otherwise, the playwright ran the risk that no one would know what he meant.

[@HermanVonPetri]

How fitting that your first line rhymes 'Tho iambic not the meter be 'Tis a goodly trick to use at times As merry wordplay for thee and me.

[@isabelatence7035]

Once again I am impressed with your play, your talent and effort makes me want to be close to Shakespeare's legacy, I immersed myself in the topic, it was really worth waiting for this video. Here we said "Monster" when someone does something excellent, you are! Thank you very much! 💂👸

[@LetThemTalkTV]

I am indeed a monster. How did you know? I'll take the compliment. Many thanks

[@isabelatence7035]

@@LetThemTalkTV It's a great compliment, in my opinion you are the best teacher of the English language

[@oswaldocaminos8431]

​@@isabelatence7035I agree with you 100%!

[@isabelatence7035]

@@oswaldocaminos8431 A teacher who is a pleasure to follow

[@DavidFMayerPhD]

More than Shakespeare CHANGED the English language, he DEFINED Modern English.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Indeed you're right.

[@oswaldocaminos8431]

​​​@@LetThemTalkTVHello Gideon!

[@jasonpalacios1363]

TBH with you when I was in high school I had trouble understanding the words in Shakespeare's plays but now because of KZbin, I understand most of it now.

[@sobrikey]

Thanks Gideon ,from France , always very interesting

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Greetings France.

[@oswaldocaminos8431]

​​@@LetThemTalkTVHello Gideon; I have found The loom of Languaje, by Frederick Bodmer, the book you highly recommended in one of your videos. What a fantastic book! Greetings from the underground.

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

I know some Shakespeare: "Alas, alas ,his father died, his aqua-lung was the wrong size".

[@jonathanport5002]

Good stuff man

[@LetThemTalkTV]

thanks.

[@semperdolens]

How I envy your communication skills.

[@svenkaahedgerg3425]

Very nice and useful. Thank you

[@edgarallanpoe1822]

The good thing is a lot of his words yield themselves through the context

[@manu.vasquez]

Great video, greetings from Chile!

[@franklawrence7212]

To paint the lily, to gild refined gold.

[@williammoore9794]

Excellent video. Thank you 👍

[@loshadkinloshadkin725]

Beautiful video, thank you!

[@isabellesimon7101]

Thank you so much Gideon for this so interesting video .I learnt a lot much more than when I was studying Will Shake at University ! So accurate ! And your sensé oh humour is still here .🎉❤

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Thank you for your comments. I'm glad it was helpful.

[@oswaldocaminos8431]

​@@LetThemTalkTVAnd it is still helpful!🤭

[@gaufrid1956]

Thou canst bedazzled be, what light shines forth on thee. Then cast thine eyes about, for fear what is without. Forsooth thou knowest not, 'tis wherefore the blood runs hot.

[@user-cc2ux9ew1r]

Aw.. look what the cat dragged in 😮 The man himself, the one and only like no other than Gideon. The Gramarian dog's bollocks! Don't pardon my French there !😉

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Good to see you.

[@user-cc2ux9ew1r]

I wish you could see me old chap.

[@myouatt5987]

Good stuff - cheers! 😀

[@brendanward2991]

Half the plays in the First Folio are new, appearing for the first time seven years after Shakspere of Stratford had died. Shakespeare wasn't a man, he was an industry.

[@rolandvoellmer5679]

I knew that when I had studied shakespeare, I now really know English as a non native speaker. I can just recommend the European classic writers: Shakespeare, Dante, Goethe, Voltaire, Schiller. I would kick the internet for them.

[@SpiritmanProductions]

Interesting video, but I would not expect so many typos from an English tutor, such as "anape" and "fasionable", and more.

[@unarmoredwtf]

There's a fantastic movie "Anonymous" about the "real" Shakespear identity. It's fiction alright but it's such a great movie with great actors, intriguing plot and jaw-dropping finale. 100% recommend watching!

[@bjorntorlarsson]

I think Shakespeare used the word "bedroom" in the sense of a place in a bed. Not referring to the sleeping chamber, the cave of dreams.

[@SuzannePALAZZO]

Thanks Gideon, from CORSICA🥵very intresting

[@ДМИТРИЙПристромов-к2д]

This video is absolutely brilliant! Thank you so much. 🙇 Unfortunately they're too much more information than my brain can handle. 😅

[@elainebelzDetroit]

The idea that any word we don't have in print before Shakespeare wrote it down must have been coined by him is so ridiculous. "Anchovy" is a great example! If he had coined that word, his audience would've had no idea what it was. Why would he do that? If he's coining terms to be used on stage, they'd have to be words the audience could understand immediately or figure out pretty easily, no?

[@n.m.sh.8706]

Bill Bryson's book about S. is well worth a read. IMHO, all of BB's books are well worth a read.

[@devendrabarthwal9413]

Shakespeare is Shakespeare.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Indeed

[@jescis]

I would have thought "Romeo And Juliette" was his most popular play… and because I like the King James Version of the Holy Bible… I can understand Sir William Shakespeare… Gideon, "How for art thou doing today?? What sayest thou about the marrow??"

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

Koelbloedig is brave in Dutch, or clearheaded in a dangerous situation..

[@der_kleine_Toni]

Long time not seen

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Here I am.

[@svenkaahedgerg3425]

Wherefore is still used in Swedish: Varför, meaning why

[@Whizzer]

'waarvoor' is still in use in Dutch too, although with a slightly different meaning. 'waarom' is more commonly used for ''why'.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Interesting.

[@SpaceMonkey15]

hvorfor in Danish

[@oswaldocaminos8431]

​@@WhizzerSimilar as "Warum" in German.

[@jensputzlocher8345]

There also is the German word "wofür" - you can recognise the same root.

[@markginther6088]

Regarding the Marlovian theory, proponents propose that Marlowe's death was faked to allow him to escape political persecution. They argue that Marlowe continued to write under the pseudonym William Shakespeare. True, their theories are largely speculative, but still interesting.

[@JiggaHedgehogHub]

Interesting topic, thanks. What about Grooks? Have an idea?

[@LetThemTalkTV]

what's that?

[@JiggaHedgehogHub]

@@LetThemTalkTV en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grook

[@JiggaHedgehogHub]

@@LetThemTalkTV short poem aka Grook - Piet Hein is create this stuff.

[@diegodiniz-zw9fn]

Certainly William Shakespeare can be considered the most important agent of disseminating the British's language and its cultural elements until the Industrial Age began,when he was replaced by that one slowly as the main mechanism difussion that cultural standard.

[@113prema]

Professor Flannigan of Dublin University has almost certainly shown that the plays were not written by Shakespere but that they were certainly written by someone with rhe same name.

[@TraceyTaylor]

"1. The Taming of the Screw" at 4::22. Paid partnership with the local hardware store.

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

Thanks.

[@pablojlascano8322]

"The taming of the Screw" is a piece by Shakespeare I had never ever seen... Is it there he coined the expression "screw-driver"? Jokes aside, great video.

[@johnwgarrett1]

"WITH" goose chase??

[@gerardodwyer5908]

Germanic DNA is strong in Vilhelm Shakespeare's writings.

[@The-Cosmos]

Hehe. At 11:20 you meant to write "Fashionable" but you wrote "Fasionable"

[@rowynnecrowley1689]

Why are only swoops "fell"? And can you have more than one? How about 2 fell swoops? Or half a fell swoop? And does it have to be fell? Can't I just have a regular non-fell swoop?

[@waterdrager93]

I've seen love's labour's won. it involves witchlike creatures and the Doctor banishing them shouting expelliarmus.

[@user-cc2ux9ew1r]

8:55 cor blimey Gideon! Do look a derro 😮😀 You need a Turkish barber and I am not having a Turkish pal 😂

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Perhaps I do.

[@user-cc2ux9ew1r]

There are many of them in barbés chez les Arabs. Take your pick!

[@bjorntorlarsson]

Salter Bacon and Looney? Well, Salter than what? I suggest that Shakespeare's plays were generated by AI.

[@sergiyshklyar2573]

I don't think Shakespeare's plays were written by a university graduate. I expect a university graduate to be content with existent state of the language rather than to develop the language for himself by coining words or phrases.

[@Dqtube]

Are we 100% sure that William Shakespeare was just Jaroslav Cimrman of its time?

[@amiryazdani2318]

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

Duizelig is a Dutch word, dazzle is clearly the same word..., beduizeld is not modern dutch..., but it is perfectly Dutch I would understand the meaning... het duizelt mij, i feal dizzy.. etc..

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

een gepekelt antwoord, a stronly ( salted ) answer.

[@italoimbriaci994]

Shakespeare is a complete mistery. We don't even know if he really existed, if was an englishman or not, if someone else was the real author of his plays. It 's astonishing we know literally nothing of the most important english writer life. Google it for better information. There's plenty.

[@KateEmbry]

tis meaning

[@MrZviswerd]

Many years ago, after hearing the various arguments "proving" that Shakespeare couldn't possibly have written the works of Shakespeare because he lacked the background, education, exposure to books, etc. to be the unique genius who created the greatest works of literature in the English language, I came to the conclusion that none of the other candidates of the time (Christopher Marlowe, etc.) could have written these plays and poems either. This lead me inevitably to the only possible conclusion: NO ONE wrote them, since obviously no one in human history has ever been a great enough genius to have done so. By the same logic, I suppose Michelangelo didn't sculpt the David, Einstein didn't discover the theory of relativity, Da Vinci didn't paint the Mona Lisa - since none of them had the background, eduction, exposure, etc. to have achieved what they achieved. Or maybe - just maybe - we call some people geniuses because they are unique, sui generis, one of a kind, inexplicable by us mere mortals.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Yes, exactly I couldn't agree more. Maybe The Beatles weren't the Beatles because they were too working class. A bunch of plebs couldn't possibly right such great songs. John Lennon was actually Vicount Rothermere.

[@oswaldocaminos8431]

​@@LetThemTalkTVExactly, simply a bit of common sense.

[@italoimbriaci994]

Let me be dissenting with you. Left aside the beauty and importance of the so called Shakespeare writings, the real issue is that there are plenty of clues that cast mistery upon him. This is not the place to discuss it deeply. Let me suggest an italian book "il caso Shakespeare e la revisione biografica del Florio" (the Shakespeare case and Florio biography review) by Corrado Sergio Panzieri, a John Florio life scholar. To cut a long story, the real identity of Shakespeare was an open secret. Perhaps truth is buried among the 340 volumes of the Florios. John Florio left everything as an inheritance to Count William III of Pembroke, but the heirs still refuse to open thei library to scholars. Why? To defend a false literary myth, maybe?

[@franzdeassi13]

Kannst Du mir Deine Schuhe leihen?

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

hart van goud , hart op de tong ge gij, dijn en mijn U en uw, je en jou, all Dutch, or old Dutch, Low Sxon and German have dou and du also... Frisian same..

[@johannkroeber392]

Shakespeare was a weed smoker.

[@tonibat59]

"Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou ?" -- Romeo and Juliet. There is an exact similar sentence in classic fiction work from a different European language, written at the beginning of XVI century, with the name invoked being also the main character and, as in the Romeo, also appears in the title. I was bedazzled to learn of this expression in Shakespeare. Since the 'Shakespeare problem' is so contentius, I will not press further hypotheses. PS as a clue, there is a modern author (not me!) that proposes there would some close relation btw the author of Shakespeare's works and that of Cervantes'. Now, in the Quixot there appears only once a reference to a little-known book that is described as 'the best book that was ever written', without further comment. Well, it is in that book that the expresion appears: "Oh X, where are you now?" (X being the protagonist, and part of the title). And no, this observation is not used by the aforementiond author. It has, to my knowkedge, never been made.

[@mrkjsmooth16]

The king’s James bible also helped standardize English

[@ceciliohdez5947]

Shakespeare is the best writer of the history, some say and I agree but how can a man, who studied, if he did it, until 11, write thouse literary works so precise and with a great knowledge of so many subjects. Thanks for your interesting videos.

[@annatarbaby]

A Russian here. I used to teach English, and I often talked to my students about the importance of Shakespeare: he's in the language and the cultural code, if you will, not even the British one, but the universal one. PS There's a terrific Canadian series Slings & Arrows focused on a Shakespearean festival, I cannot recommend it highly enough.

[@vborisov1986]

What is your nationality?

[@jenssylvesterwesemann7980]

Hugh Trevor-Roper once remarked that he (Shakespeare) has been subjected to the greatest battery of organized research that has ever been directed upon a single person. Armies of scholars, formidably equipped, have examined all the documents which could possibly contain at least a mention of Shakespeare’s name.... And yet the greatest of all Englishmen, after this tremendous inquisition, still remains so close to a mystery that even his identity can still be doubted. (Trevor-Roper 1962).

[@LetThemTalkTV]

That's absolutely nonsense. There are more than 100 documents bearing Shakespeare's name. We know a lot about him. More about him than most other people in the Elizabethan England. Nobody at the time doubted Shakespeare's authorship. It's all down to Victorian snobbery.

[@jenssylvesterwesemann7980]

@@LetThemTalkTV Frankly, I personally give the findings of actual historians more weight than the hypotheses of English Literature scholars. There are around 80 documents concerning Shakespeare, and none of them refer to him as a writer. For reference, see Diana Price's book on Shakespeare's literary paper trail. As for contemporary authorship doubts, there are several indications that people did raise the question during his lifetime, albeit in a roundabout way. See the research by Bryan Wildenthal and others for reference. And it has naught to do with snobbery. Nobody denies that Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson wrote their works. The difference is, with those writers, as with the other Elizabethan writers, there is evidence, sometimes even personal, that directly connects them to their works and to the profession of playwriting. Even Stanley Wells himself concedes that there is no contemporary evidence linking the man Shakespeare to the works.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Actually there are a lot of documents linking Shakespeare to his plays. I don't have time to go into them all but there is such a thing as linguistic fingerprinting. They've run the entire works of Shakespeare and all the other candidates through the computer and they can say with mathematical certainty that none of those candidates could have written the works of Shakespeare. It's a conspiracy theory too far. It's more likely that the world is flat.

[@jenssylvesterwesemann7980]

@@LetThemTalkTV Yes, I have heard about linguistic fingerprint analysis, too. I have also heard the analysis of experts in the field, that those findings are unreliable. There are documents linking Shakespeare to the Elizabethan theater, but, as far as I have seen, none that directly link him with the writing of a play or poem. True, many documents may be lost, but researchers were able to find direct authorship evidence of dozens of other writers that are far lesser known than Shakespeare. As Diana Price pointed out in her book, there is no evidentiary paper trail for Shakespeare from Stratford as the author. There are the names on the plays' title pages, but so is Ian McLellan Hunter's on "Roman Holiday" (which was written by Dalton Trumbo). To compare the authorship question to flat Earth hypotheses misses the central problem. There is evidence of the Earth being round. Shakespeare authorship doubters would not make the case if there were no room for reasonable doubt. Dismissal of this as conspiracy theory is intellectual laziness, at best. At worst, it is dishonesty. As with Stanley Wells stating that it would be immoral to question history, which goes against everything the scientific method stands for. It must be allowed to rethink theories when data is re-evaluated, recontextualized or newly discovered. This happens in every field of scientific research all the time, but it would be immoral, as soon as Shakespeare is concerned? I have known this type of behaviour for many years, but only in religious contexts.

[@mikemars5984]

Shakespeare owes a huge debt of gratitude to Ben Johnson and David Garrick without whom, we may have had an alternative English Language and Shakespeare would be a distant historical footnote. It's a pity that no original manuscripts exist and that the man was a total enigma. If a time machine is invented please set the first date to about 1580.

[@timc8404]

We should add that there is considerable doubt about the man from Stratford being Shakespeare. Some would say it’s a myth

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Yes, and people doubt the earth is round. Shakespeare was Shakespeare. 100s of contemporary documents prove his authorship. The "doubts" were invented 250 years later by Victorian snobs. As explained in the video.

[@timc8404]

@@LetThemTalkTV Not a play, a poem, a page or even a line exists in Shakespeare’s own hand. No contemporary evidence proves anyone even saw the Stratford man in London during his 25-year career as the most celebrated playwright in the world. If anything were ever found it would be the Holy Grail of literature, sending shock-waves throughout academia and the media, world-wide. Alexander Waugh (RIP) has many KZbin videos showing Shakespeare’s contemporaries knew the truth.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

That's simply not true. Shakespeare was known by hundreds of his contemporaries in London as the playwright. He was famous, he played before the monarch. He's mentioned in a hundred contemporary documents. He mentioned his fellow actors in his will. We have his will, we have "hand D" that I mentioned in the video. He wrote a play with his neighbour when he lived on Silver Street in London. And yet this ludicrous conspiracy theory equal to the belief that the world was flat. All invented by some "scholars" whose main argument is that it's impossible for someone who wasn't a nobleman to write those plays.

[@brolol3136]

Was Shakespeare an admirer of Stalin, tho? 🥰

[@nero-e8n]

QUESTION: "Did Injuns put you here?" ANSWER: "Twernt Mormons."

[@joachimvonritter6113]

According to my dictionary, ”tempest” is pronounced like “pissed”, not “pest” as I hear it in this video. I struggle to learn, and I’m so fed up with all these never-ending contradictions.