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Shakespearean Phrases

Can you fill the blanks in these phrases that were invented or popularized by Shakespeare?
Some phrases modified to fit modern usage
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: November 2, 2019
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First submittedOctober 29, 2019
Times taken31,419
Average score68.2%
Rating4.47
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Phrase
The Merchant of
Venice
All that glitters is not gold
With bated breath
Romeo and Juliet
Wild goose chase
Othello
Wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve
A foregone conclusion
Hamlet
Brevity is the soul of wit
The lady doth protest too much
There's a method in his madness
Hoist with his own petard
Down the primrose path
King John
Play fast and loose
Henry IV
The game is afoot
Play
Phrase
Henry V
The devil incarnate
Henry VI
Off with his head
Macbeth
One fell swoop
The milk of human kindness
The be-all and end-all
Knock, knock! Who's there?
The Taming of
the Shrew
Forever and a day
The Tempest
Brave new world
Strange bedfellows
Julius Caesar
Cry havoc and let slip the
dogs of war
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29 Comments
WanderingWalrus
+14
Level 79
Oct 30, 2019
All that GLISTERS is not gold
Quizmaster
+26
Level ∞
Oct 30, 2019
"Some phrases modified to fit modern usage"
OfficerDibble
+2
Level 81
Oct 31, 2019
Yeah, fair enough I think. People do often quote the original in this case, but I doubt the use the word 'glister' in any other context.
Bonzo007
+7
Level 66
Dec 4, 2019
Yeah, but it's a quiz about quotes. I'm with the Walrus.
EcceHomo
+3
Level 81
Nov 12, 2020
I am too. It's known for being glisters, precisely because it is archaic.
Koopa
+1
Level 79
Feb 24, 2022
I'm with Walrus, too. Using "glisters" instead of "glitters" in this context doesn't change the word in the blank.
Susie222
+4
Level 59
Dec 5, 2019
I agree with Walrus, too. After all "bated," "hoist," "doth," and "swoop" enjoy limited "modern usage."
Jango
+1
Level 64
Sep 13, 2021
Agree with you, Susie. It sets my teeth on edge when I hear glisters misquoted as glitters
Dimby
+5
Level 78
Oct 17, 2021
Swoop? That is definitely still a common word. Bats swoop.
elcampeador
+3
Level 78
Oct 18, 2021
Yes, but it is almost always quoted as 'All that glitters', while the other ones are quoted in their original wording. I am not sure who you folks are talking to that say 'glisters'.
Dollyfroggy
+1
Level 61
Dec 4, 2023
Hoist and swoop are common, I would say. Bated definitely does but only in the phrase.
APHill
+2
Level 75
Oct 30, 2019
Easy-peasy - done in 35 seconds.
blizzrd33
+1
Level 80
Oct 30, 2019
Would you accept "who is there" as a type in?
samiamco
+10
Level 69
Nov 12, 2019
But that’s not the response to “Knock knock?”. Literally nobody would answer “Who is there?”, even if they’d never read a word of Shakespeare.
jennywren21
+1
Level 62
Oct 16, 2021
I agree...there are 3 blanks, which threw me off. If it is a contraction, it needs to only be 2 blanks.
ctleng76
+6
Level 65
Oct 20, 2021
There are three blanks, but the apostrophe suggests a contraction. I think it's clear the way it is.
TravelingMama
+22
Level 73
Nov 1, 2019
So interesting. I didn't realize so many of these came from Shakespeare.
samiamco
+9
Level 69
Nov 12, 2019
Ah, Shakespeare. Man that guy could coin a phrase! There could easily be five more of these quizzes.
jmellor13
+11
Level 67
Dec 4, 2019
No kidding. Off the top of my head..."my kingdom for a horse," "green-eyed monster," "break the ice," "as luck would have it," "kill with kindness," "eat out of house and home," "love is blind," and my personal favorite, "the stuff that dreams are made of." I'm sure there are a bunch more. It's been a while since I read some his plays.
DrWhoFanJ
+1
Level 63
Sep 9, 2020
"The stuff that dreams are made ON", not 'of'.
EcceHomo
+1
Level 81
Nov 12, 2020
There's a UK TV comedy show called Upstart Crow which 'reveals' that Shakespeare didn't so much coin these phrases as collect them and use them, but not necessarily first. There's a running joke that he retroactively claims some phrases as his own, that simply weren't. Obviously it's not serious, but it makes you question these things....and it's very funny, in an English and theatrical kind of way.
TheAnimationGuy
+1
Level 44
Mar 8, 2021
No, it’s green eyed jealousy
jmellor13
+1
Level 67
Oct 16, 2021
Yes, I know that what I wrote is not the literal text. I was writing what people say. No one says "the stuff that dreams are made on," and at any rate, it's "*such* stuff as dreams are made on." But, as I said, no one says that.
ander217
+1
Level 75
Dec 4, 2019
I couldn't remember what is afoot. It's so frustrating when you know you know it, but you don't know it.
nerdalert
+2
Level 86
Jun 19, 2020
The GOAT
WallofPines
+1
Level 52
Oct 16, 2021
True.
TheAnimationGuy
+1
Level 44
Mar 8, 2021
I’m amazed that there’s no “If music be the food of love... play on” in this quiz
HutHutVikes
+1
Level 60
Jul 14, 2021
Good to see a fellow twelfth night fan!
Rinaldo
+7
Level 32
Aug 30, 2021
That's a famous quotation, all right, but the amazing thing about these other phrases is that they've completely entered the language, and people say them without any idea of a connection to Shakespeare.
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