Shakespeare and Common Phrases

Which play does "wild goose chase" come from?

Hint: "Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done, for thou hast more of the wild-goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I have in my whole five. Was I with you there for the goose?" — Mercutio

• Hamlet

• Romeo and Juliet

• Othello

Which play does "green-eyed monster" come from?

Hint: "O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock the meat it feeds on." — Iago

• Macbeth

• Hamlet

• Othello

Which play do both "seen better days" and "forever and a day"?

Hint: "True is it that we have seen better days and have with holy bell been knolled to church, and sat at good men's feasts and wiped our eyes of drops that sacred pity hath engendered." — Duke Senior

• As You Like It

• Troilus and Cressida

• Hamlet

Which play does, "it's Greek to me " come from?

Hint: "Nay, an I tell you that, Ill ne'er look you i' the face again: but those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me." — Casca

• Richard the Third

• Troilus and Criselda

• Julius Cesar

Which play does "be-all, end-all" come from?

Hint: "If the assassination could trammel up the consequence, and catch with his surcease success; that but this blow might be the be-all and the end-all here, but here, upon this bank and shoal of time, we’d jump the life to come." — Macbeth

• Macbeth

• Hamlet

• King Lear

Who was Shakespeare's wife?

• Sigourney Weaver

• Anne Hathaway

• Marilyn Monroe

What day and month was Shakespeare born?

• April 23

• April 1

• April 12

Where does the following phrase come from, "the game is afoot"?

• Henry V

• Sherlock Holmes

• Hercule Poirot

Answer explanation

"The game's afoot: follow your spirit, and upon this charge cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'" — King Henry V

Where does the phrase, "kill with kindness" come from?

Hint: "This is a way to kill a wife with kindness, and thus I'll curb her mad and headstrong humor." — Petruchio

• The Merchant of Venice

• As You Like It

• The Taming of the Shrew

Where does the term "heart of gold" come from?

Hint: "The king's a bawcock, and a heart of gold, a lad of life, an imp of fame, of parents good, of fist most valiant." — Pistol

• Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

• Henry V

• The Merry Wives of Windsor