Dost Thou Speaketh Shakespeare?

(Source: photo by pimousse3000 from flikr.com)

"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?"

Pretty much everyone has heard this famous quote from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, but few people realize how prolific his phrases have become. During his illustrious career he used a staggering 17,677 words in his numerous works, and invented 1,700 of them. He also used his flair for words to coin numerous phrases that have insinuated themselves into our everyday speech. Some of his more famous quotes are so commonly thrown around that most people can instantly attribute them to the master. Some of them include the one above as well as these:

• "To be or not to be, that is the question"- Hamlet III, 3
• "What's in a name? A rose by any name, would smell as sweet"-Romeo and Juliet
• "Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble."- Macbeth Act IV Scene 1
• "Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow."- Romeo and Juliet

While Shakespeare's most notable quotes are thrown around mostly for fun, many of his phrases have become integrated into our modern vernacular as to be almost unrecognizable as originating in the mind of this literary genius. In fact, I would guess that the average person has no idea just how many of their everyday sayings have their roots within his classic plays. Take a look at the examples below and decide for yourself if you do indeed speak Shakespeare. (also, stay tuned for a neat quiz and see how your knowledge of Shakespearean Idioms rate) Click the links to read about the origins of each phrase

• "All that glitters is not gold"- The Merchant of Venice
•  "At one fell swoop"- Macbeth
• "Fight fire with fire"- King John (Guess Metallica should be paying royalties to the master for this one!)
• "High time"- A Comedy of Errors
• "Night Owl"- The Rape of Lucrece
• "Off with his head"- Henry VI Part III (Nope, the Queen of Hearts wasn't the first literary character to utter these words)
• "Send him packing"- Henry IV, Part I
• "Heart's Content"- Henry VI, Part II and The Merchant of Venice

Those are just a few, pretty surprising though aren't they? 

What are your favorite Shakespeare quotes?