Where it’s from: The Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Sc 7 The full quote: “All that glisters is not gold—Often have you heard that told.” Although we tend to say “glitters” rather than “glisters” these ...
Shakespeare’s language is widely considered to represent the pinnacle of English. But that status is underpinned by multiple myths – ideas about language that have departed from reality (or what is ...
Today it would seem odd to describe a flower with the word “bastard” – why apply a term of personal abuse to a flower? But in Shakespeare’s time, “bastard” was a technical term describing certain ...