by Tracey L. Howard

Created on: May 25, 2007

William Shakespeare remains one of the most fascinating, prolific and influential writers in the English language. That's a mighty strong statement to make about someone who's been dead for 391 years!

In addition to the sheer volume of his work and the creation of new grammatical structures, Shakespeare also introduced words and phrases into English literature and thereby into the English language. Many of the words and phrases have remained active and are so common that we don't even realize where (and when!) they originated.

In "Macbeth," his shortest and bloodiest tragedy, Shakespeare introduced: "Come what may," "Crack of doom," "One fell swoop," "Sorry sight," "What's done is done," "Be-all and the end-all" and "Bear a charmed life."

In his love story and tragedy "Romeo and Juliet" Shakespeare introduced: "Parting is such sweet sorrow," "Star-crossed lovers," "Fool's paradise" and "Wild goose chase."

In the revenge based and much-quoted tragedy "Hamlet" Shakespeare introduced: "Brevity is the soul of wit," "Dog will have its day," "Frailty, they name is woman," "In my mind's eye," "It smells to heaven," "Neither a borrower nor lender be," "Primrose path," "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark," "Sweets to the sweet," "The lady doth protest too much," "To be, or not to be: that is the question," "To thine own self be true," "Woe is me," "There's the rub," "This mortal coil," "In my heart of hearts," "More in sorrow than in anger," "Murder most foul," "Murder will out" and "Though this be madness, yet there is method in it" (There's a method to my madness).

In the second of his historical four-play series "I Henry IV," Shakespeare introduced: "Give the devil his due," "Eaten me out of house and home," "Set my teeth on edge," "Send packing" and "The game is afoot."

In the third of his historical four-play series "II Henry IV," Shakespeare introduced: "Ill wind which blows no man to good," "Dead as a doornail," "The world's my oyster."

In "Julius Caesar," the first of his Roman plays and based on events in Roman history, Shakespeare introduced: "Beware the Ides of March," "Et tu, Brute!" "Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears," "It was Greek to me," "Let slip the dogs of war," "Unkindest cut of all," "A dish fit for the gods," and "Live long day."

In his tragedy "Othello" Shakespeare introduced: "A foregone conclusion," "Green-eyed monster," "Loved not wisely, but too well," "Put out the light," "'Tis neither here nor there," "Wear my heart upon my

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