Shakespeare's 450th birthday!

Today marks the 450th birthday of William Shakespeare, and so one suggested way of celebrating the day is to talk like Shakespeare (it's actually a national day!) If you're a bit of a fan of the man you'll probably have loads of pose up your sleeves to impress those around you today, but if you're not so much of a fan we've got a few tips for you here...

Of course there are the classics, the lines from Shakespeare you can't fail to know, such as 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day' and 'Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou Romeo'... but I can imagine these lines probably won't be featuring in your everyday vocabulary!

If you happen to go to a gig tonight, you can pull out a few music related quotes, such as: 'if music be the food of love, play on' and if you want to confuse someone or get them thinking, throw out one of the  more cryptic quotes, such as 'a fool thinks himself to be wise but a wise man knows himself to be a fool'...that should get them thinking!

Here's some basics:
1. Use 'thou', 'thee', 'thine' and 'ye' when talking to and about others
2. Speak in rhyming couplets, and throw in a few 'old sounding' words to add to the Shakespearean feel
3. Speak about yourself in third person, and use words such as 'me thinks' to start a sentence
4. If you're looking for a bit of an insult to throw out, use a word such as 'rampallion' or 'fustilarian'...who even knows what they mean!
5. Add the letters 'eth' to the end of normal words and you'll be sure to sound Shakespearean!

Just a few ideas, we wouldn't recommend you take any of Sheakspeare's stories too seriously today and try jumping from towers of drinking poison etc. but take a moment to remember the legacy of the great writer who was born 450 years ago today, and whose works are still being read, studied and remembered today, tis pretty impressive to have lasted so long we doth think!