20100428 In William's Words (3)

In William's Words

To be or not to be
Shakespeare is credited with authoring an impressive 37 plays and 154 sonnets and is widely remembered for his creative achievements. However, his works are not without controversy. Some people doubt that Shakespeare wrote the works credited to him and propose other people as the true authors. Theories abound supporting more educated individuals as the likely writers. Most people disagree with these claims, however, instead giving Shakespeare credit where credit is due.

Words, words, words
Shakespeare's genius really shows when it comes to his vocabulary. Some experts claim that he knew over 29,000 words, thus making him a vocabulary genius!

And when he couldn't come up with an appropriate word in his writing, he invented a new one. In fact, Shakespeare coined over 1,700 words commonly used in the English
language today and popularized others that were already in use. Among words credited to him are amazement, assassination, downstairs, employer, fashionable, silliness and useful. Phrases and idioms include break the ice, come what may, and love is blind.
For Shakespeare, it seems all's well that ends well. As each play comes to the stage or screen again, his genius continues to live on through his words.



con- 反對
controversy n. 爭論/爭議
=> different groups of people might have different opinions about something
controversy over
eg: The trial caused a controversy over the issue of women's rights.
=> 這個審判造成有關女性停權這個議題的爭議。

controversial adj. 爭議性高的
eg: a controversial movie 一部引起爭議的電影

credit where credit is due 任何某人的貢獻或能力
credit n. 功勞
due adj 應該還的
eg: Even though Mandy might be a little too aggressive, credit where credit is due - she is very efficient.
=> 儘管Mandy有一點強勢，但是如果實至名歸的話 - 她是個非常有效率的人。

popular adj. 受歡迎的
popularize v. 使普及/使流行
eg: The Internet has helped to popularize eco-friendly ideas and products.
=> 網際網路對於幫助推廣環保觀念和環保產品扮演很重要的角色。


sonnet n. 十四行詩,商籟詩
=> a poem with fourteen lines


credit where credit is due
=> They acknowledged Shakespeare is the person who was responsible for writing all of
these poems and all of these plays.


coin v. 創造/杜撰

popularize v. 使通俗化;普及;宣傳
=> make it popular



Break the ice. （尤指聚會等開始時，用言語或行動）打破隔閡/打頭說話
=> Take a situation that is a little bit uncomfortable and you're making it more relax for people

all's well that ends well
=> Everything turns out well



//== Chat room ==//

To be or not to be, that is the question.
=> 生存還是毀滅，這是個值得考慮的問題。
=> 出自於莎士比亞的哈姆雷特
=> 經常被套用在英文報章雜誌的標題或廣告詞
=> 通常用來表示做與不做之間進退維谷的狀態

如果你不確定該不該買某樣東西，你可以說
=> To buy or not to buy

如果外面天氣很好，心裡面很針扎該工作還是要偷得浮生半日閒
=> to work or not to work

莎士比亞的作品
Hamlet
King Lear
Macbeth



//== More Information ==//

Shakespeare's plays were written in a poetic style known as blank verse. Basically. It's poetry that doesn't rhyme, but it's still pleasing to the ear because it imitates the rhythms of natural speech. Blank verse is very flexible, allowing poets and playwrights to express themselves freely. Some of Shakespeare's more famous blank verse narratives include Romeo and Juliet, Hamiet, Midsummer Night's Dream and Antony and Cleopatra.