![]() Heaven truly knows that thou art false as hell.Shakespeare took the liar insult to new heights with these attacks on one’s honesty. Saucy lackey! ( As You Like It, Act 3, Scene 2)Ĭalling someone a “liar” is always an insult.Eater of broken meats! ( King Lear, Act 2, Scene 2).Threadbare juggler! ( The Comedy of Errors, Act 5, Scene 1).You are now sailed into the north of my lady’s opinion, where you will hang like an icicle on a Dutchman’s beard.( All’s Well That Ends Well, Act 4, Scene 3) Drunkenness is his best virtue, for he will be swine drunk, and in his sleep he does little harm, save to his bedclothes about him.You are as a candle, the better burnt out.I do desire that we may be better strangers.Would thou wert clean enough to spit upon.Away, you mouldy rogue, away! ( Henry IV, Part 2, Act 2, Scene 4).Thy tongue outvenoms all the worms of Nile.Thy sin’s not accidental, but a trade.Thou whoreson zed, thou unnecessary letter! ( King Lear, Act 2, Scene 2).( All’s Well That Ends Well, Act 2, Scene 3) You are not worth another word, else I’d call you knave.Was the Duke a flesh-monger, a fool and a coward? ( Measure For Measure, Act 5, Scene 1).I must tell you friendly in your ear, sell when you can, you are not for all markets.( The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 1, Scene 2) Go, prick thy face, and over-red thy fear, Thou lily-liver’d boy.Foul spoken coward, that thund’rest with thy tongue, and with thy weapon nothing dares perform.( The Taming of the Shrew, Act 4, Scene 3) Away thou rag, thou quantity, thou remnant.There’s small choice in rotten apples.Many insults are in some way attacks on a person’s virtue or character, but these insults bring character assault to a whole new level. One catch-all category of Shakespearean insults is the character category. ( Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 2, Scene 4) If you spend word for word with me, I shall make your wit bankrupt.Your brain is as dry as the remainder biscuit after voyage.Thou sodden-witted lord! Thou hast no more brain than I have in mine elbows! ( Troilus and Cressida, Act 2, Scene 1).More of your conversation would infect my brain. ![]() ( Shakespeare insult 10: Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1) If thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them.Your abilities are too infant-like for doing much alone.His wit’s as thick as a Tewkesbury mustard.It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.( Much Ado About Nothing, Act 1, Scene 1) Four of his five wits went halting off, and now is the whole man governed with one: so that if he have wit enough to keep himself warm, let him bear it for a difference between himself and his horse for it is all the wealth that he hath left, to be known a reasonable creature.Who but Shakespeare could create insults out of elbow, biscuit, and mustard metaphors? Shakespeare’s characters knew how to call someone a “moron” or “idiot” without ever stooping to such simplistic terms. Whatever the category or occasion, each insult is both clever and cutting. One insult even brings mustard into the picture. The eight categories of insults below give you a sense of how wide-ranging and creative his insults could be. Shakespeare had an insult for every occasion. The Shakespeare insults list you’re about to read is the result of collecting and collating the best of these burns. But Shakespeare? He knew how to craft the perfect insult. Have you ever really wanted to insult someone? Usually, we revert to the usual jabs-“idiot,” “dummy,” or other less polite terms. How boring.
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