Shakespeare è stato senza alcun dubbio il più importante scrittore e poeta inglese mai vissuto. Anche se è morto circa 400 anni fa (l’anniversario della sua morte è il 23 aprile, giorno denominato Shakespeare Day), la sua eredità è oggi viva più che mai: lo sapevi che, nell’inglese corrente, sono davvero tante le parole e le frasi coniate dal grande drammaturgo o prese in prestito dalle sue opere? Oggi ti insegnerò alcuni termini e idiomi che i madrelingua inglesi utilizzano correntemente… proprio grazie al “Bardo di Avon”!
I modi di dire in inglese inventati da Shakespeare (e usati ancora oggi)
Gli aggettivi shakespeariani
Fashionable: Stylish and cool.
E.g. She is the most fashionable girl I know, she always wears the newest trends.
Cold-blooded: Behaving in a very cruel way with no sympathy for other people.
E.g. Hannibal Lector was a cold-blooded murderer.
Gloomy: Somewhat dark, not bright and sunny.
E.g. I don’t like the winter in London, the days are short and gloomy.
Worthless: Having no real value or use.
E.g. I’m sad that I didn’t find anything at the antique market, everything was worthless junk.
Majestic: Large and impressively beautiful.
E.g. The most majestic place I have ever visited was the Grand Canyon.
Le frasi shakespeariane
Ecco invece qualche frase che è entrata a tutti gli effetti a far parte del vocabolario anglosassone. Probabilmente non le avrai mai sentite, a meno che tu non abbia vissuto in UK o frequentato la migliore scuola di inglese, quindi ti consiglio di appuntartele!
The world is your oyster: You’re young and healthy with no commitments.
Love is blind: When you love someone for their inner beauty and you don’t care about their defects.
Wild-goose chase: An absurd search for something nonexistent or unobtainable.
In a pickle: To be in a difficult situation.
All that glitters is not gold: Something that seems good and precious on the surface but is actually not valuable.
What’s done is done: When you can’t change something that’s already happened.
L’ultimo bacio di Romeo e Giulietta di Francesco Hayez
Conversation 1
Julia: I’m in a pickle, I’m thinking about breaking up with Robert.
Portia: Leave him, he is worthless and you are the most fashionable girl at school. The world is your oyster!
Conversation 2
Anthony: Have you seen Roger’s ugly new girlfriend?
Henry: Wow, that was a cold-blooded thing to say!
Anthony: I guess I should have said ‘love must be blind’?
Conversation 3
Emilia: It was a wild-goose chase trying to find a nice gold necklace at the worthless vintage shop.
Kate: Well all that glitters is not gold.
Emilia: I wasted the entire day there. Oh well what’s done is done!
