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I work, I study, I play, I laugh, I sing out loud, I skip, I drink too much coffee, I love great food, I bake, I write, I try and be a good mum and wife, I sometimes do housework!!!

Monday, November 1, 2010

Monday Musings...

....A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet...



Meaning of this phrase:
What matters is what something is, not what it is called.

Origin: This is taken from Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet', circa 1600:

JULIET:

'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;

Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.

What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,

Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part

Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!

What's in a name? that which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet;

So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,

Retain that dear perfection which he owes

Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,

And for that name which is no part of thee

Take all myself.


A story, much favoured, and as such highly suspect, is that in this line Shakespeare was also making a joke at the expense of the Rose Theatre. The Rose was a local rival to his Globe Theatre and is reputed to have had less than effective sanitary arrangements. The story goes that this was a coy joke about the smell. This certainly has the whiff of folk etymology about it, but it might just be true.
I am an avid Shakespeare fan so here's to adding a little bit
of Shakespearian knowledge to your Monday!
TK xx

3 comments:

  1. Ever so pretty roses ~ and I so... love Romeo & Juliet xx

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  2. Tiffany, I ama great admirer of Shakespeare! Did you know he invented the work 'autumn'? Your roses are beautiful.


    Thank you ever so much for the lovely comment on my post, it means alot. X

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  3. i love your blog so much! such a cosy place, and i'm a huge Shakespeare fan too :)

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Thankyou for blessing me by stopping by my little blog - I always appreciate your comments TK xx