Шекспиризмы вчера и сегодня (The Notion and Classification of English Idioms)

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INTRODUCTION

Idioms are a significant attribute of the language which makes the speech more expressive, vivid and figurative. English language is enriched with idioms, which are borrowed from the Bible, and in terms of the amount shakespearisms come next.

It is important for linguists to know idioms and their origin, because they help us to understand the language and its history better and make our speech sound more natural. That is why this work is devoted to research of shakespearisms, their use and popularity in modern English.

William Shakespeare is a key writer for the English-speaking world. He is most remarkable for his contribution to the English language and the volume of his output. Shakespeare is said to have had a vocabulary of over 17000 words (some sources say 20000), that was approximately four times that of an average man. He introduced about 2000-3000 new words and more than 160 idioms into the language.

Shakespeare’s influence on modern English is not only visible in the fact that his works have survived over four hundred years and they continue to be performed and read worldwide, but also in use of the words and phrases invented or popularized by him in everyday speech. This research is aimed to prove that these idioms called shakespearisms are still popular and widely used in modern English literature and mass media.

The widespread use of shakespearisms by modern writers and newspaper journalists serves as a proof to the fact that they are still up-to-date and popular. Our observations are based on the analysis of about 60 examples of shakespearisms used in the articles of more than fifteen American (the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Post, etc.) and British (the Independent, the Guardian, the London Evening Standard, the Daily Mail, etc.) online newspapers and about 80 examples from the works of modern American and British writers. 27 quotes by W. Shakespeare out of the total included in the dictionaries of quotes in their initial or modified form have been found in modern newspaper discourse and 32 idioms in modern prose. The articles, novels and other works which were used as sources for this research cover the period from 1990 till 2012. All these examples were found with the help of the National British and American Corpuses.

The list of shakespearisms and their classification were taken from the A.V. Kunin's phraseological dictionary and his other works. As A.V. Kunin is the leading Russian scholar who studied English phraseology and Shakespeare's contribution to it, his works and classification became a basis for this research. In addition to the A.V. Kunin many linguists, such as J. Seidl, W. Mc Mordie, Ch. Bally, L.V. Shcherba, V.V. Vinogradov, A.I. Smirnitsky and others have played the important role in it. Seven dictionaries of the English language and of English Idioms were used to look up the modern meaning and variants of various shakespearisms and to compare them with the original one.

Thepaper consists of two chapters. The first chapter is a theoretical part where the notion of idioms and shakespearisms in particular, their classification and peculiarities are looked into. It is based on the researches of the scholars mentioned above. Moreover, in this part it is shown how some of shakespearisms were changed during the four centuries of their existence and which form is more common for modern English language. This information was taken from the thesis of L.F. Sviridova which was completed in MSLU and from dictionaries of Current Idiomatic English.

The second chapter is devoted to the use of shakespearisms in modern English. It is divided into two parts. In the first paragraph examples of shakespearisms from British and American mass media are analysed. The second paragraph deals with the quotes from American and British literature which contains shakespearisms. It is studied whether shakespearisms are used in their original form and meaning or in their modern variants.

Thus, the second chapter of the research and the whole work are aimed to prove that Shakespearian language is not archaic, it is widely used in everyday speech, in literature and in mass media. Shakespearisms are universal, they can be found in various styles and registers. As the language is a living matter, some of idioms and word forms have been changed and adapted to modern language and its grammar with time. Plenty of shakespearisms have become an integral part of the English language, and people do not associate it with Shakespeare making use of them without knowing that they quote the great English poet.

Chapter I. Peculiarities of Shakespearisms

1.1 The Notion and Classification of English Idioms

The problem of investigation of the phraseological units (in Russian tradition) or idioms (in Western tradition) has existed for several centuries. Idioms are interesting because they are colorful, lively and linguistic curiosities. They have an important role in spoken and written language, in particular in conveying evaluations. At the same time, they are difficult because they have unpredictable meanings or collocations and grammar, besides they often have special connotations.

Only at the beginning of the 20^th century preconditions for phraseology to become an independent linguistic discipline were created. Phraseology is an intermediary field, being close both to vocabulary studies, since it studies fixed word combinations, characterized by a unitary meaning, as well as to syntax, since phraseological phenomena are defined by syntactic relations of various kinds, which are realized on a syntagmatic axis. Given the expressive nature of phraseologic phenomena, these have also been associated with stylistics. That was why it was not easy to decide what exactly is the subject of phraseology and if it is an independent discipline.

The Swiss linguist Charles Bally is traditionally considered to be the founder of the theory of phraseology. At the beginning of the 20^th century he made an attempt to give a classification to various combinations of words in the French language. However, he did not consider it necessary to single it out as a separate discipline, including it in the structure of lexicology and studying phraseological units mainly in the stylistic aspect. Ch. Bally asserted that features of phraseological units are made of intrasemantic features (Arnold 1986: 166). Proceeding from the degree of stability of semantic links between components, he subdivided fixed combinations of the French language into two groups: phraseological series (series phraseologiques) and phraseological unities (unites phraseologiques).

In 1925 Logan P. Smith published a book entitled “Words and Idioms”, which was a collection of his essays. The longest one, called simply “English Idioms”, contains the greatest number of idioms that Smith was able to gather, file and classify. He writes about idioms ‘from foreign sources’ (Savin 2010: 35), he deals separately with idioms drawing on the Bible, as well as with Shakespeare’s idioms.

Another scholar of the former half of the past century is Murat H. Roberts, the author of “The Science of Idiom” (1944). Structuralists accept his proposed polar relation between discourse and language, the categories “which are expected to conjoin in order to produce the complete sphere of communication”. The idiom belongs primarily to discourse, he claims, but since idiom has created language, it must have created grammar, which belongs primarily to ‘language’. Hence grammar is viewed as fossil idiom. It should be appreciated that in his opinion all idioms originated as innovations of individuals and each idiom is “a mental monument of history” (Savin 2010: 28)

However, in English and American linguistics a special branch of study for idiomaticity does not exist. Moreover, there is no universally accepted definition of the word “idiom”. This word is polysementic.

In 1909 in Great Britain a dictionary "Idioms of the English language and their use" by J. Seidl and W. Mc Mordie  was published. The authors of the dictionary considered that the idiom is "some quantity of words which, under condition of their joint consideration, mean something absolutely another in comparison with the individual word meanings, forming an idiom" (Seidl 1978: 217). Thus, one of the properties of phraseological units, named later idiomaticity, was formulated.

Idiomaticity is the core notion for the study of idioms. Mainly, the question in idiomaticity is to analyze its degree, i.e. how unpredictable the meaning of an idiom from its literal counterparts is.

The English use the word ”idiom” to denote a mode of expression peculiar to a language, without differentiating between the grammatical and lexical levels. It may also mean a group of words whose meaning it is difficult or impossible to understand from the knowledge of the words considered separately.

For the first time phraseology as an independent linguistic science in the 1920s  was singled out by an outstanding Russian scientist V.V. Vinogradov. Unlike studying phraseological units in terms of speech activity, he defined the object, the structure of the science and phraseology volume. Among previous terms for a designation "semantic unities, more complicated, than a word": a phrase, an idiom, the close phraseological group, fixed, indivisible or indecomposable word-combinations, phraseological unit – V.V. Vinogradov chose the last one and defined phraseological units as the basic objects of phraseology. (Виноградов 1977:185)

According to V.V. Vinogradova phraseological unit is a word-group or a sentence with full or partial transformation meaning and with stability at phraseological level.

However, in Russian linguistics there also exist other opinions on the nature of phraseological units. O.S. Amosova insists on the term being applicable only to what she calls "fixed context units where it is impossible to substitute any of the components without changing the meaning of the whole unit".(Амосова 1963: 79) A.V. Kunin stresses the structural separateness of the elements in a phraseological unit, on the change of meaning on the whole as compared with its elements taken separately and on a certain minimal stability. A.I. Smirnitsky considers a phraseological unit to be similar to a world because of the idiomatic relationships between its parts resulting in semantic unity and permitting its introduction into speech as something complete.(Смирницкий 1956:95)

So, the term phraseology is used to describe 1) the inventory of phrases or set expressions, and not only idioms; 2) the linguistic subdiscipline of lexicology which studies and classifies set expressions (phraseological units in the broadest sense).

There are several classification systems of phraseological units suggested by different linguists.

The academician V.V. Vinogradov based his classification on the degree of semantic cohesion between the components of a phraseological unit, where the criteria are similar to those in Ch. Bally’s classification. The more distant the meaning of a phraseological unit from the current meaning of its constituent parts, the greater the degree of semantic cohesion. The given typology, worked out on the material of the Russian language, was widely used by phraseologists for describing phraseological systems of other languages, including English. According to V.V.Vinogradov’s classification, phraseological units are divided into three big groups:

• phraseological fusions,
• phraseological unities,
• phraseological combinations. (Аrnold 1973: 170)

Phraseological fusions are word-groups with a completely changed meaning, they are non-motivated, that is, their meaning cannot be deduced from the meanings their constituent parts; the metaphor on which the shift of meaning is based, has lost its clarity. E.g. at sixes and sevens, to set one’s cap at smb, to come/get a cropper.

Phraseological unities are word-groups with a completely changed meaning, i.e. the meaning of the unit doesn’t correspond to the meanings of its constituent parts. They are motivated, their meanings can be deduced from the meaning, it is clear and transparent. E.g. to lock the stable door after the horse is stolen, to ride the high horse (means to behave a superior, haughty way), to show one’s teeth (to take a treating tone, show an intension to injure), to wash one’s dirty linen in public (discuss of make on public one’s quarrels), to carry coal to Newcastle.

Phraseological combinations are word-groups with a partially changed meaning. They may be said to be clearly motivated, i.e. the meaning of the unit can be easily deduced from its constituents. They are motivated , but they are made up of words possessing specific lexical valence, which accounts for a certain degree of stability in such word-groups. E.g. a question on the agenda of the day, a question of a great importance, to raise a question. These fixed collocations tend to become kind of clichés, where the meaning of a member-word is dominated by the meaning of the whole group.

The borderline separating unities from fusions is vague and even subjective; the more the person knows a language and its history, the fewer fusions are likely to be discovered among phraseological units.

Summing up the information above, we can say that the difference between phraseological units and free word combinations is derived from the syntactic stability of the former which are felt as distinct units due to the very fusion (to a larger or smaller extent) of the constitutive elements. The borders between free word combinations and phraseological units, as well as those between a phraseological unit and a compound word are volatile. For example, due to frequent use, a free word combination may turn into a phraseological unit.

Therefore, the features which may be taken as criteria for distinguishing phraseological units are stability (manifested in the high frequency of occurrence in the language) and semantic unity (reflected in the lack of the correspondence between the general signification of the structure and the accumulation of significations of the constituent elements). The two characteristics are closely interconnected.

A.V. Kunin has made a great contribution to the field of phraseology of the English language. Taking into account the syntactic functioning of phraseological units, he worked out a functional classification, which reveals the function of a phraseological units depending on its size (collocations or sentences).

Nominative collocations, which stand for a certain notion denoting things, actions and qualities (properties). There are subtypes of such phraseological units:

• substantive phraseological units, e.g.: a bed of roses, a baker’s dozen;
• verbal phraseological units, e.g.: eat one’s words, to catch a straw, to put one’s foot abut;
• adjectival phraseological units, e.g.: cool as cucumber, poor as a church mouse, sober as a judge, easy as ABC;
• adverbial phraseological units, e.g. in full swing, on the spot, at the eleventh hour.

Interjections, e.g.: Hear, hear!

Communicative (sentence-lawn) includes proverbs and sayings. E.g.: the coast it clear, every cloud has a silver line, can the leopard change his spots?

Nominative-Communicative. Collocations become sentences in the Passive Voice. E.g.: to pull one’s leg – smb’s led is pulled. (Кунин 1986: 164)

Further classification into subclasses depends on whether the units are changeable or unchangeable, whether the meaning of the one element remains free, and, more generally, on the interdependence between the meaning of the elements and the meaning of the set expression.

Our attention is also paid to thestructural principles of classifying – the following groups of phraseological units can be singled out: 

• verbal: to get the upper hand, put one’s best foot forward;
• substantive: cat or dog life, calf live, horse opera; 
• adjectival: brand new, spick and span, as good as gold;
• adverbial: by hook or by crook, high or low, in full swing, on the spot, at the eleventh hour;
•  interjectional: Good heavens! Well, I never!

The above classification takes into consideration not only the type of component parts, but also the functioning of the whole unit. Thus, tooth and nail is not a substantive, but an adverbial unit, because it serves to modify the verb. The identically structured lord and master is a substantive phrase.

We will classify shakespearisms in the next chapter according to this classification by A.V. Kunin.

In his work “Phraseology Of Modern English Language” A.V. Kunin also subdivided idioms according their origin. Idioms can be native or borrowed.

Native idioms are idioms which are connected with traditions, historical facts, realia and idioms from literature. Shakespearisms were singled out in a special group within the group of idioms from literature.

Borrowed idioms are bibleisms and other phraseological borrowings from other languages.

There are several theories concerning idioms and their peculiarities. In general, an idiom is a group of words in a fixed order that have a particular meaning that is different from the meanings of each word understood on its own. As shakespearisms are idioms from literature, further we will describe and classify them according to peculiarities and classification of idioms given above.

1.2 Shakespearisms. A. V. Kunin's Сlassification

There are a lot of idioms in modern English, the main function of which is to increase the esthetic aspect of language. Many of them are connected with traditions, history, realia, but the majority of idioms appeared from literature. More than hundred idioms can be found in the works of the great English playwright and poet Shakespeare, who became an undeniably significant person in the history of language and literature.

It is considered that a truly paramount writer is one who finds even the entire existing vocabulary of his language limiting to his creative consciousness; Shakespeare often did, and so from time to time created his own form of grammar and vocabulary, much of which has since become common use. With his invention of commonly used expressions, his creation of new words, and his use of iambic pentameter, he was able to affect the language in a way that no person since has. From Shakespeare we learn how it is possible to explore and exploit the resources of a language in original ways, displaying its range and variety in the service of the poetic imagination. In his best writings we can see how to make a language work so that it conveys the effects we want it to.

In “The Story of English” Bernard Levin writes that much of common English speech can be traced back to idioms used by Shakespeare. Hundreds of clichés that are used daily by English speakers were invented by Shakespeare. Quotations from Shakespeare have become extremely numerous – they have contributed enormously to the store of the language (see Appendix).

Shakespeare’s works belong to the most significant literary sources, which enriched the English language with idioms.

Shakespearisms have been of interest for a lot of linguists. There were many attempts to describe and count them. In Russia this problem was worked out by A.V. Kunin, who described idioms and shakespearisms in his work “The Course of Phraseology of Modern English”. In his “English-Russian Phraseological Dictionary” we can find 165 shakespearisms. It should be mentioned that A.V. Kunin included in his list not only idioms created by Shakespeare, but also idioms which appeared before him and were popularized by him. (Кунин 1951)

Besides, there are 62 shakespearisms in “A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English” by Eric Partridge. In 1949 L. P. Smith created his list of shakespearisms (“The Golden Shakespeare; words and idioms”), which included 80 of them. It is considered to be incomplete. There are also many shakespearisms in different dictionaries of proverbs and sayings.

According to all these sources the number of shakespearisms is 170. However, all dictionaries admit unanimously that 50 of them were used by other authors before Shakespeare. The examples of such idioms are: “fool’s paradise”, “give the devil his due”, “high and low”, “to lead by the nose” etc. There are also doubts about other 16 idioms. In some dictionaries their first appearance is referred to Shakespeare’s works, in others an earlier date is given (Свиридова, Л.Ф. 1968). Idioms which appeared before Shakespeare used them, but became popular and commonly-used because of his masterpieces, are called pseudoshakespearisms.

Here are some examples of pseudoshakespearisms:

1. Neither rhyme nor reason

We find this idiom in two Shakespeare’s plays: in "The Comedy of Errors" (1593) act II scene 2 and in "As You Like It" (1599) act III

scene 2.

However, W. Tilley refers it to 1540. B. Stivenson considers that this idiom is borrowed from French and refers it to 1479.

1. Man of would

This idiom is from "King Henry V" (1599) act III scene 2. The Oxford English Dictionary gives another date for this phrase - 1390.

Thus, we can see that a lot of phrases used in Shakespeare’s plays became idioms because of the popularity of his works. For example, the largest number of shakespearisms can be found in one of the most famous Shakespearian plays "Hamlet". It contains about 61 phraseological units or 25% of all shakespearisms. Another interesting fact was discovered by the researcher from Stanford L. Bamber, who found that more phraseological units belong to female characters from comedies or to male characters from tragedies. She considers the former to be more witty, cheerful and sensible and as a result they create more new and bright words, expressions and puns in their speech. The main male characters from tragedies such as Othello, Hamlet, King Liar are capable of introspection, suffering, understanding reality and feeling it with their hearts. All this finds its reflection in their words, which become potential phraseological units.

Some of shakespearisms are no longer used now, others can still be found in literature, mass media and everyday language. Numerous archaisms can be found in Shakespeare’s works, but it should be taken into consideration that what appears to us today as an archaism in the works of Shakespeare, is in fact an example of everyday language of Shakespeare’s time.

Further in this paragraph we will describe shakespearisms according to their structural-semantic peculiarities based on A.V. Kunin’s classification of phraseological units.

According to A.V. Kunin there are three classes of phraseological units: nominative, communicative and interjections. (Кунин 1986: 58)

Nominative collocations stand for a certain notion denoting things, actions and qualities (properties). They have a structure of a word combination which is indivisible syntactically. However, inside this phrase syntactic relations exist: words are connected by coordination or subordination.

These collocations are subdivided into substantive, verbal, adverbial and adjectival phraseological units.

Verbal phraseological units occupy the leading place among nominative phraseologisms. They denote an action and serve as a predicate in the sentence. There are several groups inside this class:

1. Phraseological units, which denote physical actions or a state, presenting in a form of action.

• To saw the air(means ‘to swing one’s arms’):

Do not saw the air with your hand, thus… ("Hamlet", act III, scene 2)

• To eat out of house and home (means ‘to make angry’):

He hath eaten me out of house and home ("King Henry IV", pt. I, act II, scene 1)

• To screw one’s courage to the sticking place”(means ‘to pluck up one’s courage’):

…But screw your courage to the sticking place… ("Macbeth", act I, scene 7)

1. Phraseologisms denoting psychological state of a person

• To be out of one’s guard (means ‘to be taken unawares’):

Look you now, he’s out of his guard already… ("Twelfth Night", act I,

scene 3)

• To know a trick worth two of that (means ‘to know how to get something’):

…I know a trick worth two of that… ("King Henry IV", act II, scene 1)

• To wear one’s heart upon one’s sleeve(means ‘to display one’s feelings’):

...’tis not long after but

I will wear my heart upon my sleeves

For daws to peck at.("Othello", act I, scene 1)

1. Units with a literal meaning of the components

• To bite one’s thumb at someone(it is an insult, has a literal meaning)

-Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?

-No, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir… ("Romeo and Juliet", act I, scene 1)

Substantive phraseological units play a very important role among nominative collocations. In the sentence they can be used as a subject, an object or a predicative. These units vary widely in their lexico-semantic structure and character of phenomena, which they denote. Their components are combined with a help of subordination and combination. There are several types of substantive units:

1. Units with the different interpretation of its components

• A triton among the minnows (means ‘a giant among pigmies’)

Heare you this Triton of the Minnoues? ("Coriolanus", act III,

scene I)

• The observed of all observers (means ‘the center of attention’)

O, what a noble mind is here o’earthrown…

The observed of all observes ("Hamlet", act III, scene I)

• The milk of human kindness(means ‘sympathy, softness’)

It is too full o’the milk of human kindness ("Macbeth", act I, scene 5)

• The be-all and the end-all (means ‘something that fills the whole life, the main thing in life’)

… that but this blow

Might be the be-all and the end-all here… ("Macbeth", act I, scene 7)

1. Units with a partial different interpretation of the components

Units with a structure “adjective + noun”

• Golden opinions (means ‘flattering opinions’)

I have bought golden opinions from all sorts of people

("Macbeth", act 1, scene 7)

Units with a structure “noun + preposition + noun”

• Caviare to the general (means a play not for general public)

… for the play, I remember, pleased

Not the million; ‘twas caviare to the general… ("Hamlet", act II, scene 2)

Units with the structure “noun in the genitive case + noun in the common case”

• Heart’s content (means ‘great joy’)

…such is the fullness of my heart’s content.("King Henry VI", p.II, act I, scene 1)

1. Units without different interpretation of the components

• Six Richmonds in the field

I think there be six Richmonds in the field:

Five have I slain today, instead of him.

("King Richard III", act V, scene 4)

• A pound of flesh

… then take thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh…

("Merchant of Venice", act IV, scene 1)

Adverbial phraseological units have different meanings. Some of them denote a quality of the action or state, other are indicators of temporal and spatial relations, they point to various consequences which accompany the action. Thus,they can be divided into two groups:

1. Adverbial qualitative,
2. Adverbial proper.

There are several groups among adverbial qualitative units:

1. Units with subordinating connection

• At one fell swoop (means all at once, at one stroke)

What all my pretty chickens, and their dam,

At once fell swoop? ("Macbeth", act IV, scene 3)

• By inches (means little by little, partially)

…They’ll give him death by inches. ("Coriolanus", act V, scene 4)

1. Comparative phrases

• Like patience on a monument

…She sat like Patience on a monument… ("Twelve’s Night", act II,

scene 4)

Adverbial proper units can also be divided into several groups:

1. Units with a different interpretation of its components and subordinating connection

• Beyond (my) depth ( means beyond one’s understanding)

I have ventur’d…

In a sea of glory!

But far beyond my depth ("King Henry VIII", act III, scene 2)

• To the world’s end (means to the edge of the earth)

Will you grace commend me any

Service to the world’s end?("Much Ado About Nothing", act II, scene 1)

1. Units with a partial different interpretation of the components and the structure “adjective + noun”

• (about) cock-shut time (means in the twilight)

Much about cock-shut time

Went through the army… ("King Richard III", act V, scene 3)

1. Units with the literal meaning of its components

• (in her) pride of place (means a height from which a bird of prey attacks its victim)

A falcon, towering in her pride of place,

Was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed. 

("Macbeth", act II, scene 4)

Adjectival units express different features of a person or object, in the sentence it plays the role of an attribute. Adjectival units are represented by a small amount of idioms, which can be subdivided into two groups:

1. Units with a different interpretation of its components

• hoist with one’s own petard (means injured by the device that you intended to use to injure others)

…’tis the sport, to have the engineer

Hoist with his own petard… ("Hamlet", act III, scene 4)

• every inch (means entirely, very much so)

Ay, every inch a king… ("King Lear", act IV, scene 6)

1. Units with a partial different interpretation of their components

• Full of sound and fury (means load, ferocious speech, which is actually unmeaning)

Life’s but a walking shadow…

…it is a tale …,

Full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing. ("Macbeth", act V, scene 5)

Our next point is communicative units (sentence-lawn), which include proverbs and sayings. They are also subdivided into two types:

1. Units with a different interpretation of their components

Our withers are unwrung ("Hamlet", act III, scene 2) means an abuse doesn’t offend our pride

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark ("Hamlet", act I, scene 4) means that something is wrong.

1. Units with a partial different interpretation of their components

The time is out of joint ("Hamlet", act I, scene 5) means that the connection of times is lost.

There’s the rub ("Hamlet", act III, scene 1) means something in which there is a particular difficulty.

The third type of idioms is interjections. Their role among shakespearisms is insignificant. There is only one unit of this type which can be found in three contexts. This unit is “That’s flat!”,which is used to indicate that a person has reached a decision and will not be persuaded to change his or her mind.It is found in the following contexts:

Through Coventry with them, that’s flat! ("King Henry IV", p. I, act I,

scene 2)

Hay, I will, that’s flat! ("King Henry IV", part I, act I, scene 3)

The boy hath sold him a bargain, a goose, that’s flat. ("Love’s Labours Lost", act III, scene I)

Resuming the information of this chapter we can make the following conclusions:

• the majority of linguists agree that the number of shakespearisms is 170;
• 16 idioms were created before Shakespeare, but it was he who made them widespread;
• according to structural-semantic analysis we came to the conclusionthat the majority of shakespearisms are nominative phraseological units;
• some shakespearisms have become archaisms, but a great part of them can still be found in books and the media.

1.3 Changes in Shakespearisms

Shakespeare lived and created his masterpieces four centuries ago. However, his influence on modern language and literature can hardly be overestimated. He is credited with being one of the first writers to use any modern prose in his writings; in fact, the growth of the popularity of prose in Shakespeare’s time is clearly shown as he used prose progressively more throughout his career. Furthermore, there are no doubt that Shakespeare was a master of the artistry of the English language. He wrote with such fluidity of thought, word, rhythm, and sound that the work is presented in a complex manner, but is not unintelligible, even for the inexperienced reader. Often a single line would have several different meanings, each providing us with insight into a character or plot. 

However, we should understand that the language and grammar of Shakespearean time differ from ours. That is why though we can read and understand Shakespeare's works in the original and use a lot of shakespearisms in their original form, nowadays there are a lot of changes in them to adapt these idioms to modern language. The majority of shakespearisms have become part of modern language with the changes at different levels. Some changes appeared gradually, others became a norm at once after the first individual use. Further, we will show examples of the changes of different types on the bases of extracts from British and American literature.

The changes can be divided into two big groups:

1) normative - changes which have become a norm of the language and are registered in dictionaries;

2) occasional - different innovations, which have not become a norm and were used mainly as a stylistic device. (Свиридова, Л.Ф. 1968)

Each of these groups is divided into subgroups:

I Normative changes can be subdivided into:

1) idioms, which have retained Shakespearian form and meaning

a) idioms which have variants and structural synonyms

One of the vivid examples is the shakespearism every inch a king ("King Lear") which gave us a widespread idiom every inch. Nowadays it collocates with different nouns, not only with the word "king". It has been used in literature since the 17^th century:

• I tremble every inch of me (H. Fielding)
• He is a gentleman … every inch of a gentleman (W. Thackeray)
• … He is a Harford, every inch of him. (O. Wilde)
• … He looked every inch a brigand. (W.S.Maugham)

Another example is the idiom till the crack of doom("Macbeth"), which has two variants: with the prepositions of and to.

The idiom to bear a charmed life ("Macbeth") have several variants, too. Instead of the verb bear the verbs have and load can be found. There also can be changes in the nominal part of the phrase - the word life can be substituted for existence.

...the story of Kidd's having a charmed life, and that to be bad to be twice hanged. (W. Irving "Tales of a Traveller")

The idiom care killed a cat ("Much Ado About Nothing") has a variant care killed the cat.

...so stop worrying about it: care killed the cat, you know. (B. Henderson)

Among idioms of this type there are also quantitative and lexical variants.

The example of a quantitative variant of shakespearisms is the idiom at one fell swoop ("Macbeth"). It almost immediately came into use in its short form atone swoop.As a result we have quantitative variants which are formed with the help of truncation or addition of elements.

They go quick, one after another - five of them vanished already at one swoop (S. O'Casey).

It should be mentioned that there is also an American variant of this idiom - in one fell swoop.

Mr. Strongfort had decided, he said, to teach me everything in one fell swoop (W. Saroyan).

Another example is the idiom from "Hamlet" the time is out of joint which was shortened to out of joint.

The idiom to wear one's heart upon one's sleeve for days to peck at ("Othello") which is connected with a medieval custom for jousting knights to wear the colours of the lady they were supporting as ribbons tied to their arms or in cloths. Now it is often used in its short form to wear one's heart upon one's sleeve.

An example of a shakespearism with an additional component is the unit more honoured in the breach than in the observance ("Hamlet"). This idiom was created by Shakespeare without the second in. This second preposition in was added later.

In "Hamlet" the idiom more honoured in the breach than the observance is combined with a particular word. In modern English the combinability of this shakespearism has enlarged and now it can relate almost to anything.

In the course of time many shakespearisms have acquired lexical variants. There are some examples below:

• applaud to the echo("Macbeth") has a variant cheer to the echo;
• in the expression thrust smth. down smb.'s throat ("Titus Andronicus") the verbs cram or ram can be used instead of thrust;
• as a result of contamination of two shakespearisms gild refined gold and paint the lily ("King John") an idiom gild the lily appeared, which is a variant of the idiom paint the lily.

b) Idioms which have derivatives

In modern English the idiom  buy golden opinions ("Macbeth") is used with the verb win or profit instead of buy.

I don’t want to use hackneyed phrases, but the fact is I can’t say it any other way, he’d won golden opinions. (W.S. Maugham)

Nowadays the idiom to win golden opinion is fixed in dictionaries.

In modern English the verbal unit to chronicle small beer ("Othello")is also used as a nominative one -a small-beer chronicle. Below examplesof both variants can be found:

• Every evening Mr. Charles went to the club where he and the members would chronicle small beer. (B. Henderson)
• This small-beer chronicle is scarcely justified by the fact that men of Agnes's acquaintances and correspondents were persons of distinction. (The Athenaeum).

Shakespeare made use of the phraseological unit lay it on with a trowel only in the passive voice:

Соlia: Well said: that was laid on with a trowel ("As You Like It").

Now we can find it in an active form, too:

She continued to flatter him... She got a little private amusement by seeing how much he should swallow. She laid it on with a trowel (W.S. Maugham).

Another Shakespearism which has two forms is full of sound and fury ("Macbeth"). In modern English it has this adverbial form and also a nominative variant sound and fury.

• ...and are full of sound and fury signifying nothing. (Th. Dreiser, The Financier)
• ...dashing round the country as a sound and a fury, pouring the British Empire... (S. O'Casey, Inishfallen, Fare Thee Well)

с) Idioms with a new meaning or stylistic nuance

A new independent idiom to the top of smb.'s bent appeared from the shakespearism fool smb. to the top of his bent ("Hamlet"). The meaning of the new idiom is slightly changed. We can see it in the following examples:

• By way of ... humouring him to the top of his bent. I ... remarked "What a delicious country you have about these lodgings of yours!" (Ch. Dickens).
• Philip, in his happier moods, indulged Tom to the top of his bent (G. Eliot).
• Go on an' smash the boats. Play hell to the top of your bent (J. London).

Stylistic nuances of shakespearisms can also be changed. For example, the idiom a Daniel come to judgment ("Merchant of Venice"), which had a direct meaning of an honest unprejudiced judge, in modern English is often perceived as a case of irony.

Webster Thayer, a Daniel come to judgment, would hand down his decision on the motion for a new trial (U. Sinclair).

It also obtained a second meaning - a wise man:

"...I recommend the settlement. Bunting, you're on the beam. A Daniel come to judgment" (P.G. Wodehouse).

The idiom the milk of human kindness ("Macbeth") sounds as a reproach with an excessive softness coming out of Macbeth's mouth.

Lady Macbeth: ...yet do I fear thy nature: It is too full o' the milk of human kindness… ("Macbeth". ActI, sc. 5).

In modern English this idiom is used with a positive connotation or as a joke or irony.

• Besides a man with the milk of human kindness in him can scarcely abstain from doing a good-natured action, and one cannot be good-natured all around (G. Eliot).
• Sellers said privately that Rossmore was the most extraordinary character he had ever met - a man just made out of the condensed milk of human kindness... (M. Twain).

2) Idioms which have not kept Shakespearian meaning and stylistic nuance

The idiom to bite (my, your) thumb at (you, me) ("Romeo and Juliet") was an insult in Shakespearian time; nowadays it is equal to showing a middle finger and demonstrating contempt.

If you but bite your thumb at an upholder of your opposing house you have work cut out for your steel. (O' Henry, Past one at Rodney's).

The idiom pride of place ("Macbeth")almost completely changed its meaning. In modern English it means a person or thing that gives people a feeling of pleasure or satisfaction or the feeling that you are better or more important than other people. In Shakespearian time this idiom was used with the preposition in and was adverbial. Nowadays it is a nominative unit, which does not need any article.

...what is good of pride of place when you cannot appear there! (H.Wells, The Invisible man)

The idiom pound of flash ("Merchant of Venice") hadquite a different meaning in the 16 -17^th centuries, whereas now it means the exact quantity of something which belongs to a person according to the law. Shakespeare referred to this phrase in several contexts with the verbs to appear, to cut, to take, to have, to claim. In modern English the idiom is used with all those verbs and with the verbs to give, to get, to want.

He would not have given his pound of flash to be captain of her guard. (Ch. Kingsley, Miscellanies)

...for he could not see how his exaction of pound of flash was to be evaded... (Th. Driser, The Titan)

As we can see from the examples above, normative changes mostly affect the semantics and the structure of idioms. Further we will prove that the majority of occasional changes are stylistic.

II Occasional changes

As it was mentioned before occasional changes in shakespearisms are usually used as stylistic devices. These changes occur only in one particular context and are not fixed in the dictionaries. They have a particular aim - to emphasize or to make something more precise, to make an image more vivid and bright or sometimes to weaken the meaning of an idiom in a particular context. The structure of the idiom can be either demolished or not by these changes. That is why there is the following subdivision of occasional changes in shakespearisms:

1) changes which kept the structure of the idiom;

2) changes which demolished the structure of the idiom.

The first group consists of idioms with additional elements in their beginning or end which do not change the idiom itself. The strengthening of the meaning can be manifested through the intensification of expressive means and strengthening of imagery; specification is achieved by specification of semantic elements. Morphologic variation also occurs among occasional changes. We can observe nouns in the singular instead of nouns in the plural or vice versa. Interrelation between objects can also be changed - it is a case of stylistic distribution.

Besides, some of the components of an idiom can be used in their direct and indirect meanings simultaneously, which can produce a great effect.

In the second group additional elements are included in the idiom. They demolish its structure and change the meaning. These additional elements are called "nonce-words". "Nonce words" are words which once were used by an author, but have not become a phraseological unit.(Свиридова, Л.Ф. 1968)

Let us illustrate all the above points with examples from literature:

• He's a man, every inch of him and every atom of his gray matter. (J. London) - strengthening of the meaning, produced by additional elements;
• ...are all eyes and ears and nerves.(Th. Dreiser, An American Tragedy) - strengthening of the meaning, produced by additional elements;
• I've cudgeled my brain all day to remember where I have seen this tall, thin man... - morphological variation (the use of the singular instead of the plural);
• ...I bore charmed lives. (J. London) -morphological variation (the use of the plural instead of the singular);
• This barber was one of Coralio's saddest dog... (O'Henry, Cabbages and Kings)-change of the comparative degree of the adjective.

These occasional changes are very numerous, but as we have already said they are not fixed and they were all used only once, therefore their role in the language is not so important as the role of normative changes.

Thus, we see that the language as a living organism constantly develops and changes, even its stable elements such as idioms undergo changes. The majority of shakespearisms have changed in a varying degree during the long time of their existence. These changes can be found in their structure, in the meaning or stylistic nuance. One of the largest groups of the changes is quantitative, which can be found among both normative and non-normative types of changes.

The fact that shakespearisms are still changing and they have become a basis for a great number of new idioms again confirms the importance of Shakespeare'scontribution into the English language and its idiomatic vocabulary.

In this paragraph the examples of changes in shakespearisms were proved mostly by extracts from the literature of the 19^th and 20^thcenturies, because during this period of time some of them appeared or were used by authoritative and worldwide known writers. The next paragraph will be focused on the way shakespearisms are used by modern authors, whose works date from the last twenty years.

Chapter II. Shakespearisms in Modern English

W. Shakespeare's language and talent are often discussed as he was a major influence on the present-day English language, and his coining of new words such as assassination and courtship and idiomatic phrases such as salad days and cold comfort are cited as evidence. Shakespearian words and phrases still exist in modern English and can be counted in hundreds. However, his importance is not only in the numbers of words and idioms he used, but in the way he used them and in the way we use them now.

Shakespearian idioms are not archaic or grandiloquent, they can be found in different styles and genres. We will demonstrate it giving examples of publicistic and belles-lettres styles.

2.1 Shakespearisms in Mass Media (1990- 2012)

Bright, witty phrases by W. Shakespeare date back to the 16^thcentury, however, they have not lost their luster and remain popular today. Shakespeare’s works function as a source of numerous idioms that make referential connection between the literary works of the English bard and contemporary newspaper articles.

Twenty seven quotes by W. Shakespeare out of the total included in the dictionaries of quotes in their initial or modified form have been found in modern newspaper discourse. Our observations are based on the detailed analysis of examples of shakespearisms used in the articles of different American (the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Post, etc.) and British (the Independent, the Guardian, the London Evening Standard, the Daily Mail, etc.) online newspapers.

The situation of the insertion of a quote into a new text possesses both individual and objective characteristics. On the one hand, the author expects his texts to be perceived by a target language speaker who supposedly possesses deep knowledge of certain language frames. On the other hand, a reader needs to be alert and able to discover hidden signs pointing to the presence of the phrase borrowed from external source and extract its meaning and origin out of his/her memory, which makes the process of text perception more difficult.

The analysis of the texts helps us to come to conclusion that the use of shakespearisms in the articles is very often accompanied by the shift of their meaning, which is first of all the result of changing their reference, and some modifications of their form. Shakespearisms used in modified forms demonstrate the intention of journalists to attract readers’ attention, as well as to stimulate their interest.

By means of applying a fixed, widely-known pattern authors strive for novelty and originality that contributes to the expressiveness of the new formation. The examples below prove it:

Brevity is the soul of wit ("Hamlet"): Working on the assumption that brevity is the soul of wit, Alfred Hitchcock and Joe Pesci, made do with a simple "thank you" (The Observer, 2009)

  The devil can cite scripture for his purpose ("The Merchant of Venice"): At the end, quoting from St Luke, he announced "he that is lost is found": a reminder of the fact that even the devil can cite scripture for his purpose (The Guardian, 2002)

  Once more unto the breach("Henry V"): Once more unto the breach. Athens has agreed another package of last-minute measures to secure another €8-billion of emergency funding(The Globe and Mail, 2011).

However, as it was mentioned before not all shakespearisms can be found in the articles in their original form and meaning. Further we will show several examples of famous Shakespearian phrases which have undergone changes.

The phrase all the world is a stage ("As You Like It" act 2, scene 7; "Macbeth" act 5, scene 5) in Shakespearian times highlighted the role of fate in people's life. Fate plays with Shakespearian characters and it is often cruel with them. Nowadays this phrase has become a conceptual metaphor, which discloses pretence and insincerity of our world and the reference of this idiom is narrower now. If earlier it was used about life and the world, now it is used mostly in the sphere of art. The following examples demonstrate it:

All the World's a Stage (nytimes.com 20.07.2003) - the title of the article devoted to a pop-group from Iraq.

All the world's a stage - especially classrooms, says school union (The Guardian 2.08.2006) - the article focused on the necessity of training teachers in acting, because it can be useful in their teaching practice. Thus, here stage means the classroom, where teachers work and teachers are compared with actors.

In some articles this quotation points at Shakespeare himself or his works:

All the world's a stage for Brustein (Boston Globe 2.09.2007) or All the World's His Stage (Washington Post 15.01.2007).In the second article the personal pronoun his refers to Shakespeare and the metaphor turns into metonymy, replacing the wide notion of world for the narrower one theatre, which is a metonymy of Shakespearian creative work.

Another interesting example is connected with comparison of modern politicians' actions, who launched wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for the sake of their own interests and ambitions, with the misdeeds of the Macbeths.

All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand ("Macbeth", act 5 scene 1) - this sentence means that the hands of Lady Macbeth smell bad and further the context shows us the reason for this bad smell, which is the murder of King Duncan.

This quotation was used in the Sunday Herald on 3.10.2004 and referred to Tony Blair: "... our Prime Minister has blood on his hands. And all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten his little hand. "Here the epithet "little" gets an ironic connotation and makes the whole quotation ironic, emphasizing its meaning.

However, sometimes this Shakespearian phrase can be used irrespective of its context, for example, about perfume: Lacking all the perfumes of Arabia, I have tried sweetening my hands with dishwasher detergent. (The New York Times, 28.03.1990).

Another quotation from "Macbeth" can also be used in its literal and figurative meaning. A tale told by an idiot ("Macbeth", act 5 scene 5) originally shows the meaninglessness of people's life (...a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing). In the article from Deseret News it is used in its direct meaning about an unintelligible speech of M. Moor: A tale told by an idiot (Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 23.10.2004.)

Sometimes not a whole phrase, but only some words from shakespearisms can be used in their figurative meaning. For example, the line which was said by King Richard III "A horse! A horse! my kingdom for a horse!" ("Richard III", act 5 scene 4) has a literal meaning in the play. Richard exclaimed these words during the battle, when he badly needed a horse and, as he was king of England, he could offer his kingdom for a horse. However, in the article "My kingdom for a horse" (Observer 7.03.2004) the headline has a figurative meaning. The article is devoted to the British combined team of equestrian and their chance of success and getting medals in the Olympic Games. One of the members of the team is Zara Philips, Princess Anna's daughter, who is the tenth candidate for the succession to the throne. As she has few chances to be Queen, this headline can be regarded as hyperbolical metonymy. Regarding other members of the team who do not have anything in common with the Royal Family this phrase is a metaphor, which means that all their life (kingdom) is devoted to horse riding (horse). (Bashirova 2008:7)

The idiom pride of place ("Macbeth") used to mean a height from which a bird of prey attacks its victim; now in all dictionaries its meaning is defined as "to have the most important position in a group of things" (Longman Dictionary of English Idioms, 1981). In all modern contexts it is used in its new meaning.

 Pride of place in this collection goes to the snap of him with John and Norma Major. (Today. London: News Group Newspapers Ltd, 1992)

However, as it was mentioned in the previous chapter, shakespearisms can have not just a new meaning or stylistic nuances, but also structural synonyms or different derivations.

The play "Macbeth" is full of examples of shakespearisms with structural changes. For instance, nowadays the idiom at one fell swoop ("Macbeth") is used mostly with the preposition in.

 The company, which prides itself on its environmental record, decided a final solution was needed to avoid in one fell swoop the seasonal embarrassment of leaves on the line. (The Daily Telegraph.04.08.1992) 

In one fell swoop the authorities have made a large step towards perpetuating the quality, image and prestige of the Home Internationals by allowing the players to be available. (Golf Monthly. London: Specialist & Leisure Magazines Group, 1991) 

Hit or miss ("Troilus and Criseyde") is a widespread expression, which is hardly identified as a shakespearism nowadays. It can also be used in a variant hit and miss. Both variants are equal.

But the weirdness was hit or miss: while the pumpkin-and-sea-urchin ravioli came together surprisingly well. (Newsweek, 2010)

Investors say movies are a terrible business because it's so hit or miss, but the value of a studio is the library, just like the value ... (Fortune, 2007)

But on a day-to-day basis, solutions are still largely hit or miss. (Parenting, 1999)

... smooth, long-legged glide, and he can energize any ballpark, hit or miss, with the beautiful, looping swing. (Sports Illustrated, 1995)

... apply your second and third color using a "hit and miss" approach. (The Denver Post, 2008)

His 1950th films were more hit and miss, but the social comedy "People Will Talk" and his films for Hitchcock were a success. (San Francisco Chronicle, 2004)

...registered largely in terms of hit and miss rates.(The Washington Post, 2002)

 The idiom full of sound and fury ("Macbeth") can be found both in its full and short variants. The latter is sound and fury.

Jim Bob: full of sound and fury in NY (New Musical Express. London: Holborn Publishing Group, 1992)

  All those ladies in Burberry raincoats standing, clipboards poised, on the wind-swept corners of shopping malls; all those hundreds of thousands of electors stopped and questioned; all that ‘analysis’ and number crunching; all those column centimeters filled with prognostication; all that sound and fury; all that nothing.(Marketing Week. London: Centaur Communications, 1992) 

We sit there for nearly an hour, staring into the house-sized holes, mesmerized by the relentless sound and fury.(Esquire. London: The National Magazine Company Ltd, 1992)

Further examples from the play "Macbeth" demonstrate that some words can be changed in shakespearisms. Thus, in the phrase applaud to the echo ("Macbeth") we can found the verb "cheer" instead of "applaud":

Brian Wilson's analysis of the general election result (‘The Union strikes back’, 24 April) must have been cheered to the echo by Ian Lang and the rest of the Tory rump now running Scotland.(New Statesman and Society. London: Foundation House, 1992)

The original variant to buy golden opinions ("Macbeth") can be transformed into to win or to profit golden opinions:

In 1960 she won golden opinions in Britain in Leonid Spigelgass's study of autumnal courtship, A Majority of One (Phoenix), in which she starred opposite Robert Morley. (The Daily Telegraph, London: The Daily Telegraph plc, 1992)

The shakespearism to bear a charmed life ("Macbeth") also has different variants in modern English. The verb "bear" can be changed for have or load, instead of the noun "life" the noun "existence" can sometimes be found.

Mr. Makallah had a charmed life. (The Independent, London: Newspaper Publishing plc, 1990).

As far as changes in grammar are concerned, it should be mentioned that sometimes shakespearisms can change the voice as in case of the idiom lay it on with a trowel ("Merchant of Venice"). It still can be used in the passive voice like in Shakespearian times, though nowadays it is more often used in the active voice. The examples of this idiom used in the active voice can be found in the next paragraph.

If all this were laid on with a trowel, the reader's patience would quickly wear thin. (The Daily Telegraph 1992.04.05).

The shakespearism every inch a king ("King Lear")gave us a widespread idiom every inch, which collocates with different nouns, not only with the word "king". The idiom is frequently used, there are examples of some contexts in which it is used below:

Inventive storage puts every inch to work and tames bathroom chaos. (Good Housekeeping, 2012)

In L.A.'s Echo Park a pair of product designers makes use of every inch of their small home. (Sunset, 2012)

If you can reach your toes, give yourself a point for every inch. (Esquire, 2011)

The Collosseum in Rome, every inch crowded with admires, a galaxy of historic figures, assembled to speak his praise... (Newsweek, 2011)

...everyone at mini-chain spinoff was all smiles, and every inch of 9000-square-foot Penn Quarter retreat... (The Washington Post, 2001)

Shaq is at the stripe, clanking line drives off every inch of rim. (Esquire, 2010)

A surge of new energy pounds through every inch of him, and there is a moment of perfect oblivion where he is aware... (Newsweek, 2010)

Including the weeks when she painted every inch of the interior, Ms. Kuzara spent about 1000 hours on her foreclosure project. (The New York Times, 2010)

Another example is the shakespearism the time is out of join ("Hamlet") which is now used in its short form out of joint with different nouns.

In the best of circumstances, timing is hopelessly out of joint. (The Atlantic, 2000)

The film focuses more attention on Paris fashion, stylish noses are decidedly out of joint over Altman's unabashedly satirical take on designers and the fashion press. (USA Today, 1994)

Chinese companies also appropriate intellectual property "often by re-innovating technology sucked out of joint ventures". (USA Today, 2011)

However, occasionally we can come across this idiom in its full variant:

The times (the early Depression years) were out of joint. (San Francisco Chronicle, 1992)

The idiom gild the lily ("King John") is interesting, because it appeared as a result of contamination of two shakespearisms gild refined gold and paint the lily.

Gild the lily by topping each serving with a dollop of whipped cream or pouring on a pool of raspberry puree - or, what the heck, go ahead and do both. (The Washington Post, 2006)

... though you could gild the lily and highlight the petals on the rose-petal cake with frosting. (San Francisco Chronicle, 2003)

There are plenty of shakespearisms which have retained their form and their meaning, though subtle shades of meaning or stylistic nuances in their usecan be found.

To be hoist with one's own petard ("Hamlet")

 Petards were unreliable and apt to detonate as soon as a match came anywhere near the fuse, resulting in the hapless sapper being blown up or ‘hoist by his own petard’. (Today. London: News Group Newspapers Ltd, 1992)

Seamy side ("Othello")

Until recently when I went to a conference on security in libraries and other collections I had not the slightest knowledge of the seamy side of that world or any idea that it had one. (New Scientist. London: IPC Magazines Ltd, 1991)

Fancy free ("Midsummer Night's Dream")

...and misogynists, scowling while the rest of the world caroused, footloose and fancy free. (The New Republic, 1991)

The shakespearism foregone conclusion ("Othello") nowadays can be understood either as an inevitable result or as a conclusion that has preceded argument or examination. In the examples below the first two extracts can be related to the first meaning and the last extract to the second meaning.

I think they're going to make it, but to pretend that it's a foregone conclusion or a walkover or anything like that would be quite unrealistic. (The Daily Telegraph, 1992.04.12)

Despite the president's victory, the answer to this question is not yet a foregone conclusion.(The Economist. London: The Economist Newspaper Ltd, 1993)

As posters go up in hotel lobbies and banners are hung in the international airport terminals, crowds are a foregone conclusion.(The Art Newspaper. London: Umberto Allemandi & Company, 1992)

The idiom with bated breath ("Merchant of Venice") completely preserved its original meaning and it is widely used in modern contexts.

Commercial view data services aimed at domestic customers are starting up in the US later this year, but it is not clear that the public is waiting with bated breath.(New Scientist. London: IPC Magazines Ltd, 1991)

Boxing and Las Vegas, joined in very unholy matrimony, are waiting with bated breath and heavily baited betting slips for the outcome of a fight that can be almost relied upon to restore some credibility to the heavyweight division.(Today. London: News Group Newspapers Ltd, 1992)

We find the idiom whirligig of time ("Twelfth night") in the phrase "And thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges". The word whirligig- originally a top or any rotary device - becomes in this phrase a metaphor for time, which whirls misdeeds back on the perpetrator. Whirligig also lent the name to a contemporary machine for punishing thieves. This elaborate contraption seems to resemble a large hamster's treadmill, with a hatch in the cage which could be opened to drop the victim into water. Nowadays, the idiom is used in a sense close to reverses of fortune or vicissitudes of life.

By this time, the whirligig of time had actually brought Hill back into fashion, and I hope that his shade had a cackle at the sight of the Thames executives attempting to clamber back on to the bandwagon.

But the whirligig of time brings in his revenges, and years spent with Ted look quite good on a chap's CV (New Statesman and Society. London: Foundation House, 1992)

Though the idiom the beginning of the end ("Midsummer Night's Dream") comes from Shakespeare's play "Midsummer Night's Dream", it is hardly associated with Shakespeare. It is regarded as a set expression widely used in everyday speech and also in mass media. We have come across several examples of the use of this idiom:

It was the beginning of the end to one of the greatest friendship in fashion history. (Town & Country, 2011)

...the D-Day invasion to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Allied attack that marked the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany. (Military History, 2010)

This is the beginning of the end of the Islamic Republic as we know it. (Newsweek, 2010)

Ryan despises the VAT as the beginning of the end of the American Empire. (Fortune, 2009)

It was the beginning of the end of remarkable civilization. (Junior scholastic, 2011)

The phrase more sinned against than sinning ("King Lear") belongs to King Lear who exemplifies in the extreme a possessive parent with ungrateful children, as he chalks up their transgressions on a cosmic balance sheet. In modern language the idiom can be used not just relating to ungrateful children, but to a person, who, though he may be guilty of wrongdoing, thinks himself the victim of a more serious wrong. In this particular meaning it is used in the following examples:

In Ryan, Americans are not only more sinned against than sinning, as they are in all of Spielberg's movies, they are the aliens, and their innocence is sacrificed to the world, drenched in the most cinematic blood ever shed. (Esquire, 21/12/2012)

As for cruelty, was Japan more sinned against than sinning? (National Review, 1995)

Salad days ("Antonius and Cleopatra") is an idiomatic expression referring to a youthful time, accompanied by inexperience, enthusiasm, idealism, innocence, or indiscretion that one associates with a young person. More modern use, especially in the United States, refers to a person's heyday when somebody was at the peak of their abilities—not necessarily in that person's youth.

Robert Rauschenberg (whose newest work, ‘Bicycloids’, ‘Urban Bourbons’ and ‘Eco-Echo’ is at Knoedler from 8 May to 4 June) would, in his salad days, make ‘combines’ out of whatever junk came to hand during an evening's walk in the streets.(The Art Newspaper. London: Umberto Allemandi & Company, 1993)

To give pause to ("Hamlet") is a well-known idiom, which is rarely associated with Shakespeare. It has slightly changed its meaning and connotation. In "Hamlet" the phrase "give us pause" means "stop and consider", in other words it shows some doubts. In modern English its meaning is  "to cause to hesitate or be unsure, as from surprise or doubt" (A.P., Cowie, X.R. , Mackin, Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English, Oxford University Press, 1996). Thus, additional meaning of surprise has appeared, which can be observed in the last example.

It's those still-undefined metrics of achievement that give pause to instructors such as Dee Blecha. (The Denver Post, 2012)

American history is filled with two kinds of years, each of which should give pause to those who'd rush to judgment on 2008. (USA Today, 2008)

It does, however, give pause to the breathless momentum with which Urbanski's project has been hurtling along. (San Francisco Chronicle,1994)

Thus, we can see that shakespearisms are widely used in British and American media. There are examples of their use either in their original or modified form, with different connotations and in different meanings.

The language of mass media is very vivid, flexible and up-to-date. The fact that shakespearisms can often be found in newspapers proves that they are a very important part of the modern English language. They are not archaisms which are used only in the literature of previous centuries, but idioms which we come across in our everyday life.

2.2 Shakespearisms in modern English literature (1990-2012)

Shakespeare played an important role in shaping the English language, and the preeminent playwright’s influence on literature is evident in the works of everyone from Herman Melville to William Faulkner. W. Shakespeare's masterpieces have not lost their significance since they were created. For example, the quotations from the Richard's monologue from the play "Richard III" (Now is the winter of our discontent/ Made glorious summer by this sun of York...)can be found in the headlines of 23 works. The most famous of them are "The Winter of Our Discontent" by John Steinbeck, "The Winter of My Discontent" by Alec Wilder and "The Sun of York" by Margaret Abbey.Another evidence of Shakespeare's significance and topicality is the British Council’s literature seminar “Shakespeare – Our Contemporary?” which took place in January 2014 in Berlin.

In this chapter we will make an attempt to prove the contemporaneity of Shakespeare and his works and wide use of many shakespearisms in the works of modern authors. Obviously it means that these shakespearisms are part of modern language, as the readers and authors know and make use of them. Typical characteristics of modern English literature include reality-based stories with strong characters and a believable story. Very often the modern novel deals with all the facts of contemporary life, the pleasant as well as the unpleasant, the beautiful as well as the ugly, and does not present merely a one sided view of life. All this presuppose that the language of the modern novels should contents words and phrases, which reflects this reality and characters. Thus, we can speak about shakespearisms as phraseological units reflecting modern reality.

Some of shakespearisms are so familiar for readers that they do not refer them to Shakespearian works. For example the idiom foregone conclusion ("Othello"), which can be found in various contexts in plenty of works.

Some commentators and businessmen have suggested that the successful privatization of the National Freight Corporation was a foregone conclusion. (Norman Fowler, Ministers decide, 1991)

The outcome seemed a foregone conclusion.

At his subsequent trial, Charles Woolridge was to take the contradictory step of pleading not guilty, but the outcome was a foregone conclusion; he was unanimously convicted. (Roger Long ,Murder in old Berkshire, 1990)

‘Even if I were able to discover the whereabouts of these establishments — and that is by no means a foregone conclusion — the moment I produced my warrant-card, everyone would close up like a clam.’ (Ray Harrison, Patently murder , 1991)

‘Well, if 'e was in the area it's a foregone conclusion 'e'd pop in. (Harry Bowling ,The girl from Cotton Lane, 1992)

On the contrary, other shakespearisms are associated only with the playwright and his particular plays as to be or not to be ("Hamlet"). These shakespearisms are perceived as allusions to Shakespeare's masterpieces.

Please don’t think I’m here to save lives. To be or not to be, I don’t labor the decision. (Chuck Palanic, Survivor, 1999)

But he was able to say musingly, “To be or not to be.” (Ian McEvan, Atonement, 2001)

Shakespearisms used by modern authors can preserve their original form and meaning, though the meaning usually has at least slight changes or stylistic variants, or can be found in their variants.

As far as changes in the form and lexical changes are concerned we can illustrate them with the examples below.

One of the most frequently used model of changes in shakespearisms is the substitution of prepositions and conjunctions as these parts of speech are less significant and slightly change the meaning and stylistic nuances of the phrase.

For example, the shakespearism till the crack of doom ("Macbeth") can be found in the modern literature in two variants with the preposition till or to.

...yet for ever and for ever, to the crack of doom, the sea will insult and murder him. (The Crossover Novel. Rachel Falconer, 2009)

Hit or miss ("Troilus and Criseyde") is a well-known idiom, which also has two variants: hit or miss and hit and miss. The second variant is even more popular now and can be found in all dictionaries and in many contexts from modern literature.

...especially one that keeps breaking down, but even that was hit and miss. No guarantees. (Charles Martin, Thunder and Rain, 2012)

Rumours, and the snowy images from the hit and miss television reception in our mountain valley. (Donna Milner, After River, 2008)

Another shakespearism at one fell swoop ("Macbeth") is still used in its original form.

In a similar fashion, all the representative bodies of the police — ACPO, the Superintendents' Association, and the Police Federation — were outraged at the creation of the Crown Prosecution Service in the Prosecution of Offences Act in the mid-1980s; for one area of police power in the courts had been removed at one fell swoop and given to another arm of the executive. ( Young, Malcolm, An inside job, 1991)

However, the variant with the preposition in instead of at is more frequent in the modern language. At first it appeared as an American variant of the idiom, but further became a norm in Britain, too.

Remember, however, that because those stimulants are addictive, if your consumption has been particularly high you are likely to suffer withdrawal symptoms (headaches, lethargy and so on) if you try and cut the stimulants out completely in one fell swoop. (Markham, Ursula, Your four point plan for life, 1991)

Either the salt would sting into a cut or raw spot on my body, bringing back bodily feeling in one fell swoop, or else, from somewhere in the bowels of building, my ears, questing for the remotest of stimuli, would pick up on the sound of a toilet being flushed, or perhaps a trolley banging against a wall. (Self, W., My idea of fun, 1993)

Lindsey stood transfixed, feeling her colour deepen beneath a disturbingly intense appraisal which left her feeling ridiculously shaky, the ageing, fatherly figure of her imaginings swept away in one fell swoop.( Evans, Jean, A dangerous diagnosis, 1993)

Besides, there isa short variant of the idiom, which is at one swoop, and the variant with additional elements. These elements are usually adjectives before the verb fell like in the example below:

Thus, in one, glorious fell swoop, we had not only first-hand, first-class information about island fishing locations, but also assured board and lodging when we arrived. (Sandison, Bruce, Tales of the loch, 1990)

Another way of changing the form of the shakespearisms is their shortening. One of the most striking examples is the idiom every inch which traces back to the Shakespearism every inch a king ("King Lear"). It extended its collocation greatly and can be used with different nouns in the modern English language. The examples below demonstrate the variety of contexts in which this idiom can be found. However, there are almost no contexts with the original collocation and meaning.

Brigitte looked every inch a star. (D. Steel, Betrayal, 2012)

He owns the whole planet. Every inch and acre. (J. Cantrell, Into the free, 2012)

He saw her eyes go wide and her gaze race over every inch of his naked chest. (Jaye Ford, Blood Secret, 2012)

He seemed every inch the cool aristocrat. (Laurel McKee, One Naughty Night,   2012)

Every inch of Loch Ness has been mapped by sonar. (Josh Bazell, Wild Thing,   2012)

I blinked, taking in every inch of him in slow motion. (Hannah Jayne, Under Wraps, 2011)

...drew up every inch of his average frame, and strode purposefully from the White House. (Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman, Broken Promises: A Novel of the Civil War, 2011)

That was Curan's way. He was every inch a hardened knight. (Mary Wine, My Fair Highlander,   2011)

Another example is a well-known idiom (the time is) out of joint ("Hamlet") which is nowadays mostly used without its first part. The examples from the modern English literature prove this statement.

Pang twisted his neck almost out of joint in order to watch Dolly as she jumped into a matching escape module.(Sibella Court, Etcetera, 1999)

Mary Anne Telmin seemed to get her nose out of joint when he said that. (Catherine Ryan Hyde, Pay It Forward,1999)

I'm poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax... (Kirsten Bakis, Lives of the Monster Dogs, 1997)

...he ran full speed and yanked him down, pulling his leg totally out of joint. (Vanessa Davis Griggs, Redeeming Waters,  2011)

Time is always out of jointin the greeting-card works. (Dexter Palmer, The Dream of Perpetual Motion, 2010)

Got their ruddy nose out of joint. (John Updike, The Widows of Eastwick, 2008)

"What's got your nose out of joint?" (Sophie Jordan, Too wicked to tame, 2007)

Among shakespearisms there are also a lot of cases when the original verb is substituted for another variant, which is almost equal semantically. The play "Macbeth" abounds in such examples. One of them is ‘applaud to the echo’ ("Macbeth"), where the verb applaud can be replaced with the verb cheer.

  Not many Nationalists would applaud Mrs. Thatcher to the echo: her intransigence and belligerence have been a source of conflict.(Running out of excuses. Belfast/London, 1991)

‘Piss off, Clasper, you've had your day!’ yelled a burly figure at the back of the crowd, who was cheered to the echo for his advice.(Kilby, M., Man at the sharp end, 1991)

Another example is the idiom to win golden opinions ("Macbeth"). Here we can use a verb to win instead the verb to buy, both variants are possible and semantically equal.

...record the annals, and the School band, who won golden opinions for themselves. (Tom Hiney, Raymond Chandler, 1999)

Your pure heart and lofty spirit will win you golden opinions wherever you go.(Roger Zelazny, Robert Sheckley, Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming, 1991)

In the shakespearism thrust something down somebody’s throat ("Titus Andronicus") several substitutions for the verb thrust are possible. It can be the verb to cram or to ram.

He rammed the mouthpiece down my throat so that the reed scraped the roof of my mouth. (James Frey, A Million Little Pieces, 2003)

I waited for the tentacle to thrust its way down my throat.( Jodi Picoult, Plain Truth, 2000)

There are cases where many substitutions of different parts of speech are made simultaneously. The shakespearism to bear a charmed life ("Macbeth") is one of such idioms. There are several variants of substitutions in it. The verb to bear can be changed for to have or to load . These variations were first mentioned by A.V. Kunin.

 What I'm not prepared to accept is that he's entitled to lead a charmed life while others struggle and falter and fail.(  Goddard, Robert, Into the blue, 1990)

You must have a charmed life.( Anderson, Caroline, The spice of life, 1993)

According to his biographer, Henry Bordeaux, even when he landed he remained in a trance ‘as if electrified by the fluid still passing through his frame’ Though through so many dogfights he seemed to bear a charmed life, this kind of nervous impulsiveness seemed bound to lead to disaster. (Horne, Alistair, The price of glory, 1993)

Not just a verb, but a noun can be substituted in this idiom. The noun existence can be used instead of life. The second variant is not so frequently used as the original one, but it is exists.

However, there are also examples of the changing the voice of the verb in original shakespearism. This phenomenon can be illustrated by the example of the idiom lay it on with a trowel ("Merchant of Venice") which W. Shakespeare used only in the passive voice. In modern literature we can find contexts where it is used in the active voice.

I really laid your crimes on with a trowel.’(Howard, Stephanie, Battle for love, 1991)

Sometimes the word order in original Shakespearian phrase can be changed. We can observe it in the shakespearism from "King Henry IV" the better part of valour is discretion which nowadays is a part of English but with another word order: discretion is the better part of valour.

As my aunt Loulane would say, were she alive to say it, "discretion is the better part of valour." (Brian Schofield, Selling Your Father's Bones, 2011)

The next example is an interesting case of contamination of two shakespearisms gild refined gold and paint the lily. As a result we have a new idiom to gild the lily ("King John").

"Sorry, Cam, had to gild the lily. (Sarah Bird, The Gap Year, 2011)

However, not only the form of shakespearisms can be changed. Sometimes they retain their form, but lose their original meaning. For example, we can speak about units with the different interpretation of its components.

One of such units is the idiom the milk of human kindness ("Macbeth") which sounds as a reproach with an excessive softness coming out of Macbeth's mouth. For her the milk of human kindness is distasteful stuff—no self-respecting man has any use for it. Therefore, when we use the phrase to approve of someone's compassion, we reverse the original sentiment. In modern English this idiom is used with a positive connotation or as a joke or irony.

Dear old Martha had much of the milk of human kindness about her; she had pensioners who shared with her such things as she had: one was a lame robin redbreast, who came and sat on a bush opposite the door till he was fed; another was a pigeon whose cot was quite a mile away: she too looked for a meal on every visit, and after gathering her crop-full, would wing her flight over the fields and houses home to her cot. (Hedderwick, Mairi, Highland journey,1992)

Another idiom from "Macbeth" pride of place also almost completely changed its meaning. In Shakespearian times this idiom was used with the preposition in and was adverbial. Nowadays it is a nominative unit, which does not need any article. It means ‘a person or thing that gives people a feeling of pleasure or satisfaction or the feeling that you are better or more important than other people’.

The famous paragraph of Article 42 intending to give pride of place to the Roman catholic church in the state was removed by referendum in 1972, along with the accompanying paragraph recognizing other existing religious groups. (Fulton, John, The tragedy of belief, 1991)

Jewelled with moisture, it now had pride of place in my fridge. (Cooper, Fiona, I believe in angels, 1993)

Glancing at the table, she saw that the girl had done everything just as she had shown her…the big brown teapot had pride of place in the centre of the table, with the pretty rose-patterned milk jug and sugar bowl beside it. (Cox, J. London, Don't cry alone, 1992)

There are also some idioms which nowadays are used mainly in their figurative meaning. Thus, to be hoist with one's own petard ("Hamlet") literally means ‘to be blown up with his own mine’. More generally, a "petard" is a hat-shaped device which can be charged with gunpowder. In modern English it is used in its figurative meaning which is to be harmed or disadvantaged by an action of one's own which was meant to harm someone else.

  As elsewhere, a too zealous objector is hoist by his own petard. (Honderich, Ted, Mind and brain, 1990)

Then we're hoist with our own petard.(Goddard, Robert, Hand in glove, 1993)

It's nice to find the Church hoisted by its own petard for once.( Greenwood, D M., Unholy ghosts, 1991)

The phrase a pound of flesh ("Merchant of Venice") has entered the lexicon as slang for ‘a particularly onerous or unpleasant obligation, a harsh demand or spiteful penalty—the consequences of defaulting on a desperate bargain’. However, in the play "Merchant of Venice" Shylock demands a literal pound of flesh as security when the merchant Antonio comes to borrow money for a friend.

When nightly he begs his rightful pound of flesh from Antonio (James Reese, The Dracula Dossier, 2008)

That: a pound of flesh, as a scripted by the bard (James Reese, The Dracula Dossier, 2008)

Another idiom from "Merchant of Venice" with bated breath is also used by Shylock when he asks whether, after the treatment he's received, he should now servilely bow, whisper like a "bondman" (slave), and put himself at Antonio's disposal. He mocks the idea that he ought to respond "with bated breath"—a much misunderstood phrase. "To bate," like "to abate," means to diminish, reduce, or blunt. "With bated breath," therefore, means "in a hushed voice," with reduced "breath" (force of speech). We have adopted the phrase to mean, most often, "with one's breath held."

Then, there was nothing else to be done except get back to work in the cutting room at Paramount where he was working around the clock on The Two Jakes , for which the world of movie entertainment was waiting with bated breath; because even though all of the above makes fascinating reading for everyone intrigued by Hollywood's pop royalty, especially one so colourful and mercurial as Nicholson, it is the mere trivia, the overcoat of gloss and glitz, that hides the real Jack Nicholson…( Parker, John, The joker's wild: biography of Jack Nicholson, 1991)

The adults, in the way that grown-ups have, forgot that my ears were listening and talked with bated breath of the murder that had taken place on those very sands earlier that year. (Maidment, Arthur, I remember, I remember, 1990)

From July onwards the town of Whaddon had waited with bated breath.(Gist, M., Life at the tip, 1993)

For a few moments she imagined the scene as dark-suited managers with grim faces waited with bated breath for the one man who could step in and save the company…(Rees, Eleanor, Hunter's harem, 1992)

Seamy side ("Othello") were used by Shakespeare figuratively in Othello: "Thatturn'dyourwittheseamysidewithout."This term refers to the wrong side of a garmen,revealing the stitched seams. The sordid or base aspect of something.

She was a tough girl with an abrasive manner, and seemed very knowledgeable about the seamy side of life. (Murphy, E., A nest of singing birds, 1993)

‘I don't share your desire to skirt the seamy side of life.’ (Neil, Joanna, The waters of Eden, 1993)

The idiom lay it on with the trowel ("As You Like it") was known before Shakespeare, but its metaphorical and proverbial forms are his contribution to the language. The protagonist young lady Celia uses the figure to describe language that is plastered on, not with workmanlike care, but with unsubtle force. While Celia refers to Touchstone's crude linguistic workmanship, modern use of the phrase is slightly different. Le Beau's sort of "polite" language, a little too elegant and weighty for the situation, is the usual object of the phrase "laid on with a trowel"—eagerly flattering speech.

I really laid your crimes on with a trowel.’(Howard, Stephanie, Battle for love, 1991)

A lot of shakespearisms have broadened their connotation and as a result can be used in different contexts with a slightly different meaning. For example, trifles light as air ("Othello") means ‘silly trifles’. Shakespeare wrote it about jealousy: "Trifles light as air are to the jealous confirmations strong as proofs of holy writ." A trifle light as air presupposes something totally innocent which to the jealous man looking for the worse in everything seems to be something dangerous and treacherous. These trifles become the confirmation of his jealous thoughts, and they are as strong as holy writ (scriptures), which in those days, was a strong comparison, as the word of the bible was as much law, as the law of the land. Nowadays, we can come across this idiom in different contexts.

All these things, and other trifles light as air, took their place in the murder investigation that was to begin at Burleigh School on Thursday night. (Barnard, Robert, Little victims, 1993)

An interesting example of a broad connotation of shakespearisms is good men and true ("Much Ado About Nothing"). It means dependable men, of rank and honour. The phrase was adapted later to 'twelve good men and true', indicating the twelve (originally all men, now both sexes) of a criminal jury.

You will be amazed to know that these six good men and true found me guilty, although without the uproar that the producers had rather hoped for.(Fowler, Norman, Ministers decide, 1991)

She was not going to say or do anything that would make John Major's task more difficult: the Cabinet, here she indicated them with a sinuous wave of her hand, was the most brilliant since Herbert Asquith's and, as for Central Office, and she looked directly at Sir Charles, who was mopping his brow, they were good men and true who strove mightily in the interests of the Party, and for precious little reward. (Critchley, Julian, The floating voter, 1993)

But just as important as the token of gift was the witnessing of a transaction by good men and true. (M K. Harlow, Cnut. Lawson, 1993)

The phrase more sinned against than sinning ("King Lear") belongs to King Lear and is related to ungrateful children. In examples from modern literature the idiom can be used not just relating to ungrateful children, but to a person, who, thoughhemaybeguiltyofwrongdoing,thinkshimselfthevictimof amoreseriouswrong.

And the story finished up: perhaps he was "more sinned against than sinning".

"More sinned against than sinning", she said, looking at him again in concentration and puzzlement.

To be more sinned against than sinning. He suggested when she told him.

Is year minister more sinned against than sinning? (B. Hambly, Those Who Hunt the Night, 1993)

The idiom salad days ("Antonius and Cleopatra")originally referred to a youthful time, accompanied by inexperience, enthusiasm, idealism, innocence, or indiscretion that one associates with a young person. Nowadays it can be also found in the context about a person who is at the peak of his or her abilities—not necessarily in that person's youth.

Oh I'm there, I'm there in Salad Days, or outside Hank's Hardware World, or on the patch of grass by the white town hall, with my chest thrust out and hands on hips and a kind of silent ho-ho-ho.(Amis, Martin,Time's arrow, 1991)

Nevertheless, even in my green and salad days (Master Shakespeare has asked to borrow this phrase), Hampton Court was a diamond of a residence.(Clynes, Michael, The poisoned chalice, 1993)

And when he and Hugh Paddick joined together for their Julian and Sandy routine — bravely supposedly using the names, and names only, of Julian Slade and Sandy Wilson (writers of The Boy Friend and Salad Days)— Williams and Paddick were giving new meaning to that word ‘gay’, especially when they talked about the figure-hugging black number they had bought in Carnaby Street.(Freeland, Michael, Kenneth Williams: a biography, 1990)

The idiom to be all and end all was coined by William Shakespeare in"Macbeth". He gives these lines to Macbeth, when he is contemplating assassinating King Duncan of Scotland and taking the throne to himself. In modern literature it can be found in several meanings which are close to each other: the whole thing; the last word; something that so entirely suitable as to eliminate the need for a search for an alternative. In everyday speech we now use this expression less so than in the past, but it has not become archaic yet. Examples from literature prove it.

But look at it... her be all and end all... we can't do this to her. (Katheleen Eagle, Mystic Horseman, 2008)

But it's his final wishes that are the be all and end all of this case... (Iris Johansen, Stalemate, 2006)

It is not the be all and end all. (Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett, 1991)

The phrase fancy free ("Midsummer Night's Dream") was used in the play in the meaning "not in love". Nowadays it can be also found in the meaning " Having no commitments or restrictions; carefree".

Not that I had a single iota of a plan for what to do with my fancy free, beyond the couple of add-on summer school courses the district administration had agreed to, at my request.(Bradford Morrow, The Diviner's Tale, 2011)

Nor his anxiety that Woodrow, being too foot loose and fancy free, might light out for the bottom and never put a vote in a ballot box. (The best laid plans.(Short Story) The Mississippi Quarterly, 2001)

The idiom out of house and home ("King Henry IV"), which means ‘in a manner that deprives one of dwelling or some aspect thereof’, refers to the Shakespearian phrasehe hath eaten me out of house and home. Nowadays it is used not only with the verb eat, however this connotation is the most popular as it was in Shakespearian times. The formula "out of house and home" itself dates from about the thirteenth century. It has never been clear whether "home" is being distinguished from "house" or whether the phrase is just a piece of poetry. It implied that somebody consumed not only provisions, but furthermore domestic comfort.

And finally, only a year or so later, turned them out of house and home — put them on the street, as women who failed to be properly grateful to the fathers had been put for centuries.(Maitland, Sara, Three times table, 1990)

In those times, a poet could descend on you with all his retinue and eat you out of house and home. (Kerridge, Roy, Jaunting through Ireland, 1991)

Then in a matter of days, or even one day, are they not up and about again eating us out of house and home?(Hammond, Christopher, How to use homeopathy, 1991)

‘You must eat your wife out of house and home,’ commented Duncan.(Shah, Eddy, Ring of red roses, 1992)

Matey was bustling about, doing some of the chores which McAllister had neglected while drinking coffee with him, and on opening the biscuit tin she complained bitterly that Dr Neil would eat them out of house and home if he continued to run through biscuits at his present rate — a judgment which amused McAllister, but also made her feel vaguely guilty.(Marshall, Paula, An American princess, 1993)

There are also examples of shakespearisms which retained their meaning. For instance, the idiom midsummer madness ("Twelfth Night") means foolishorextravagant behavior which is supposedtooccurduringthesummer. This meaning coincides with the meaning of this phrase in the play.

Put it down to…to ‘midsummer madness’, or your damned moonlit ghosts!’

‘Midsummer madness’,’ he quoted softly, his gaze on her averted profile. (Ash, Rosalie, Calypso's Island, 1993)

The following shakespearisms also preserve their meaning. Whirligig of time ("Twelfth Night") is used in a sense close to reverses of fortune or vicissitudes of life.

Thus the whirligig of time, etcetera, etcetera.’(Goddard, Robert, Into the blue, 1990)

The idiom neither rhyme nor reason ("Comedy of errors") means without logic, order, or planning.

‘There's neither rhyme nor reason to Moodie's suicide.’ (Clynes, Michael, The white rose murder, 1992)

The phrase the beginning of the end("Midsummer Night's Dream") which is widely used in modern language in its literal meaning.

That was the beginning of the end for me. (Blake M. Hausman, Riding the Trail of Tears, 2011)

It was the beginning of the end. Why the hell ever go back? (Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins, Kiss Her Goodbye, 2011)

Jude would oversee the beginning of the end for the one who had recently been brought to his attention. (Stella Cameron, Out of Body (Court of Angels), 2010)

"The beginning of the end of me!"she had since joked. (Maggie Leffler, The Goodbye Cousins, 2009)

That had been the beginning of the end of their marriage. (Judy Duarte, Mulberry Park Paperback, 2008)

Thus, fromvarious examples above we can see that a lot of modern writers make use of shakespearisms in their works. Analyzing the material from this chapter it should be mentioned that shakespearisms are used in modern literature both in their original form and meaning and with changes which make them more comprehensible for readers.

It should be stressed that literature contains more examples of using shakespearisms than newspapers and magazines. However, as it was demonstrated above Shakespearian idioms are used widely in the modern English language in various contexts and fields. Very often people do not identify them with Shakespeare, because some of these idioms are so common and widespread in the language that people forget their origin and perceive them as sayings or set phrases.

CONCLUSION

Nobody either before or after W. Shakespeare has made such a great contribution into the enrichment of the English phraseology. Shakespeare is the most quoted writer in the history of the English-speaking world, and many of his quotations and neologisms have passed into everyday usage in English and other languages.

Shakespearisms are remarkable for their conciseness, figurativeness, richness and expressiveness. His striking, accurate phrases were comprehensible for people and came into use at once. Besides idioms Shakespeare introduced and popularized a number of phrases dating back to ancient authors or sayings which were rare in use before. As shakespearisms grew in popularity and steadiness they became idioms, gradually gatherednew words, broadened their combinability and syntactical functions, got new variants which became a norm with time. In addition new shades of meaning and new stylistic nuancesappeared.

According to various sources the total number of shakespearisms is 170, 50 of them were used by other authors before Shakespeare, but became part of the English language thanks to him. Not all of these 170 idioms are still used in modern language. The majority of those which are in use underwent certain transformations because of their wide use on the one hand and because of the tendency of idioms for constant changes on the other hand. As we can observe from the examples of the second chapter even if shakespearisms kept their original form, lexical composition, meaning and style in modern language, nowadays they are used with a wider range of words and have various syntactical functions due to their appearance in different contexts.

The main changes in shakespearisms are:

• the presence of various determiners before the idiom. They can be different articles, possessive or demonstrative pronouns;
• appearance of lexical variants and synonyms;
• theuse of the idiom in a new syntactical function.

The aim of the work was to prove that shakespearisms are widely used and popular in the modern English language in different spheres and styles. This aim was achieved by means of analysis of the researches devoted to this topic and examining of dictionaries of current idiomatic English concerning shakespearisms. Moreover, in the second chapter60 examples from articles of more than fifteen American and British newspapers and about 80 examples from modern American and British literature reinforce the argument that shakespearisms are up-to-date and widely spread in the language. We appealed to literature and mass media to demonstrate that Shakespearian language is not just a poetic source which can be used by writers to express their ideas in a more expressive way, but it can also be found in everyday speech and in a more formal register of publicist style.

Shakespeare's influence is summarized by Thomas Carlyle:

“This King Shakespeare does he not shine, in crowned sovereignty, over us all, as the noblest, gentlest, yet strongest of rallying-signs; indestructible; really more valuable in that point of view than any other means or appliance whatsoever? We can fancy him as radiant aloft over all Nations of Englishmen, thousand years hence.” (Thomas Carlyle, The Hero as Poet, 1841).

Though it was written more than 150 years ago these words about Shakespeare and his contribution to the English language are still true.

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Dictionaries:

1. Cowie, A.P., Mackin, X.R. Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English, Oxford University Press, 1996.

2. Longman Dictionary of English Idioms.L., 1981.

3. Lubensky S. Russian-English Dictionary of Idioms.N.Y.1995.

4. Martin A. Monser A Dictionary of Contemporary Idioms Pan Books, London and Sydney in association with Macmillan Press

5. Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English, vol. 2. – Oxford University Press, 1988.

6. Oxford English Dictionary of Current English, third edition, revised. - Oxford University Press, 2008.

7. Richard, A. Spears American Idioms Dictionary, Lincolnwood, Illinois, USA, 1991.

Websites:

1. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/124000.html
2. http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/
3. http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/
4. http://www.mycobuild.com/about-collins-corpus.aspx
5. http://americannationalcorpus.org/
6. http://ice-corpora.net/ice/

Appendix

The list of shakespearisms:

“Macbeth”
To make assurance double sure

Till (to) the crack of doom

To applaud to the echo

To bear a charmed life
The be-all and end-all
The milk of human kindness
To screw one’s courage to the sticking place
To win golden opinions
At one fell swoop
The sere and yellow leaf
Pride of place
Full of sound and fury

“Hamlet”
To be or not to be?
To cudgel one’s brains
The observed of all observers
To be hoist with one’s own petard
To do yeoman service
Our withers are unwrung
To shuffle off (this mortal coil)
To give pause to (smb.)
To out-Herod Herod
To know a hawk from a handsaw
Caviar to the general
Germane to the matter
A towering passion
The primrose path of dalliance
There’s the rub
From whose bourne no traveler returns

In the mind’s eye
To the manner born
Shreds and patches
Sweets to the sweet
To the top of one’s bent

To speak daggers 

From whose bourn no traveller returns

More honoured in the breach than( in) the observance

(The time is) out of joint

To lay not that flattering unction to your soul

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark

Forty thousand brothers

“Othello”
The green-eyed monster
To chronicle small beer
The seamy side
To wear one’s heart upon one’s sleeve
Trifles light as air
Curled darlings
Moving accident(s)
Ocular proof
A foregone conclusion
The head and front of
The pity of it!
“King Henry IV”
To eat one out of house and home
The wish is father to the thought
The better part of valour is discretion

“King Henry V”
To give the devil his due

“King John”
To gild refined gold
To paint the lily

“Twelfth Night”
Midsummer madness
The whirligig of time
Cakes and ale

“Merchant of Venice”
To have (smb.) on the hip
To one’s heart’s content
A Daniel comes to judgment
A pound of flesh
With bated breath

The devil can cite scripture

“As You like It”
How the world wags?
In good set terms
lay it on with a trowel
Sermons in stones

“Midsummer Night’s Dream”
Fancy free
The beginning of the end

“King Lear”
Every inch a king
More sinned against than sinning

“Much Ado About Nothing”
Comparisons are odorous
Good men and true

Care killed a (the) cat

“Troilus and Criseyde”
Hit or miss

“Romeo and Juliet”
A fool’s paradise

To bite (my, your) thumb at (you, me)

“Comedy of Errors”
Neither rhyme nor reason

“Antonius and Cleopatra”
Salad days

“Julius Caesar”
An itching palm

“Tempest”
A sea-change

“Coriolanus”
Atriton among the minnows

“Love’s Labour Lost”
That’s flat

"Titus Andronicus"

Thrust something down somebody's throat