![]() ![]() It referred to the fact that pots and kettles of the time were made of cast iron and got blackened in the fire and is used to suggest that one shouldn't accuse or criticize another of something they're also guilty of. Pot calling the kettle black - This phrase comes from the Spanish novel Don Quixote by Cervantes.It’s still used to indicate someone is no good at an activity, often in a self-deprecating way. The original version is "If it was to save my life and theirs, I can’t get up small talk for the rector and his curate." Here the speaker explains that he's so bad at small talk he couldn't do it even to save his life. I can't do to save my life - This phrase can be traced back to English novelist Anthony Trollope in The Kellys and the O'Kellys.Here are more idioms used in famous works of literature: Idioms often help make dialogue more realistic and make clear a character's personality, education or background. Many other authors also coined their own idioms or used common idioms in their works to great effect. The world is my oyster - In The Merry Wives Of Windsor, when Falstaff refuses to lend Pistol money Pistol draws his sword and says, "Why, then the world's mine oyster, which I with sword will open.” Today the phrase is full of optimism rather than violence and is used to say the world is full of possibilities and you can do anything.In Henry IV, Part 2 Jack Cade says, “I have eat no meat these five days yet, come thou and thy five men, and if I do not leave you all as dead as a doornail, I pray God I may never eat grass more.” The phrase is still used emphatically, implying that something is so dead it's as if it were never alive in the first place. Dead as a doornail - Though this phrase is perhaps better known as the opening description of Ebenezer Scrooge's partner Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol, it was previously used by Shakespeare.The phrase has changed slightly, but the meaning is the same: Even though your action seems random, you have a purpose to them. There's method in my madness - In Hamlet, Polonius observes Hamlet's antics and says, "Though this be madness, yet there is method in't." He suspects Hamlet isn't behaving as irrationally as he seems to be on the surface.Set my teeth on edge - In Henry IV, Part 1, Hotspur complains about how much he hates poetry, saying, "And that would set my teeth nothing an edge, nothing so much as mincing poetry." Today the phrase is used to express distaste for something, particularly annoyance, and also discomfort, like the noise of nails dragging on a chalkboard.Today, people use this phrase to mean that they are showing their real feelings about something. In the play, the phrase continues to state that the “daws," or crows, would be able to peck at his heart if he revealed it. Wear my heart upon my sleeve - This saying was first used in Othello when Iago describes how he would be vulnerable if he revealed his dislike of Othello. ![]() Today this phrase is used to refer to relieving tension or getting to know someone better, usually by making small talk, or a kind gesture to start a new relationship. Tranio encourages Petruchio to "break the ice" with Katherine to get to know her, suggesting that he may like her better - and get her to like him.
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