If you cannot understand my argument
And declare "It's Greek to me";
You are quoting Shakespeare
If you claim to be more sinned against than sinning
You are quoting Shakespeare
If you recall your salad days
You are quoting Shakespeare
If you act more in sorrow than in anger
If your wish is father to the thought
If your lost property has vanished into thin air, you are quoting Shakespeare
If you have ever refused to budge an inch
Or suffered from green-eyed jealousy
If you have played fast and loose
If you have been tongue-tied
A tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle
If you have knitted your brows
Made a virtue of necessity
Insisted on fair play
Slept not one wink
Stood on ceremony
Danced attendance (on your lord and master)
Laughed yourself into stitches
Had short shrift, cold comfort or too much of a good thing
If you have seen better days or lived in a fool's paradise
Why, be that as it may, the more fool you
For it is a foregone conclusion that you are (as good luck would have it) quoting Shakespeare
If you think it is early days and clear out bag and baggage
If you think it is high time and that that is the long and short of it
If you believe that the game is up
And that truth will out even if it involves your own flesh and blood
If you lie low till the crack of doom
Because you suspect foul play
Or if you have set your teeth on edge (at one fell swoop)
Without rhyme or reason, then - to give the devil his due
If the truth were known (for surely you have a tongue in your head)
You are quoting Shakespeare
Even if you bid me good riddance and send me packing
If you wish I were dead as a door-nail
If you think I am an eyesore
A laughing stock
The devil incarnate
A stony-hearted villain, bloody-minded
Or a blinking idiot, then - by Jove! O Lord!
Tut, tut! for goodness' sake!
What the dickens!
But me no buts - it's all one to me
For you are quoting Shakespeare!
There it is, that's our birthday gift to William Shakespeare
From the Bard admin staff
Happy Birthday William Shakespeare!
