16 common words or phrases Shakespeare coined
The Bard is credited with inventing more than 2,000 words or phrases. Here are but a few.
• Puppy dog
• Breaking the ice
• Besmirch
• Hob-nob
That’s a trick question—he is credited with inventing all of them.
The bard, whose 448th birthday was this week, invented more than 2,000 words and phrases. Among them:
• Eyeball
• Puppy dog
• Anchovy
• Dauntless
• Besmirch
• Lackluster
• Alligator
• Hob-nob
• “Flesh and blood”
• “House and home”
• “Good riddance”
• “Green-eyed monster”
• “Breaking the ice”
• “Dead as a doornail”
• “Money’s worth”
• “Short shrift”
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