1.1 Location: the entire play is set in Windsor (twenty-five miles west of London), moving between the streets, the homes of Page and Ford, the Garter Inn, a field outside the town and, in the fifth act, the Great Park near Windsor Castle
1 Sir the usual title for a clergyman persuade urge/argue with Star Chamber court consisting of most of the King’s Privy Council, which met in a chamber with stars painted on its ceiling
3 Coram corruption of “quorum,” a group of judges whose presence was required at a trial
4 cousin kinsman Custalorum corruption of “custos rotulorum,” the keeper of the shire records and a justice of the peace
5 Rato-lorum i.e., “rotulorum”
6 writes himself Armigero i.e., signs himself armiger, Latin for “esquire” (one entitled to bear arms/a gentleman) bill legal document/document requiring the payment of debts warrant document authorizing a judicial sentence/the payment of debts between two parties quittance document certifying release from a debt or obligation obligation contract binding a person to an action or payment
9 give display (in a coat of arms) luces pikes (freshwater fish)
10 coat coat of arms (Evans’s louses—lice—plays on the sense of “garment”)
12 become suit passant (heraldic term for) walking/surpassingly
13 familiar well-known/overly intimate
14 coat Shallow plays on Evans’s Welsh pronunciation of coat as “cod”
15 quarter add the arms of another family to one’s coat of arms (Evans understands “cut into four”) coz cousin (i.e., kinsman)
19 py’r lady by Our Lady (i.e., the Virgin Mary); Evans often substitutes “p” for “b” skirts separate sections forming the lower part of a coat
21 do my benevolence lend my help
22 atonements agreement/reconciliation (Evans often makes singular words into plurals) compromises joint agreement/settlement made by an arbitrator
23 Council King’s Privy Council, which often heard cases of riot; Evans seems to think Shallow is referring to a church council
24 meet fitting Got God (Evans often substitutes “t” for “d”)
25 Take…that take that into consideration
26 vizaments advisements
28 friends…sword i.e., friendship is substituted for violence
29 device plan peradventure perhaps/most likely discretions judgment
30 Thomas later named as George (presumably Shakespeare’s memory slip)
31 small in a high-pitched/light/quiet voice
32 fery very (Evans often substitutes “f’ for “v”) ’orld world just exact/exactly
33 is has
34 give given (her)
35 motion suggestion pribbles and prabbles petty squabbles
39 is…penny will give her more besides
40 Slender most editors reassign to Shallow, since Slender has already said he knows Anne gifts qualities (Evans takes the word literally)
41 possibilities financial prospects
42 honest respectable/upright/sincere
45 well-willers well-wishers
49 tell…tale have something else to say to you
54 ill clumsily/poorly/illegally (by Falstaff)
55 la an intensifier equivalent to “indeed”
57 by…no a very mild oath
59 fallow light brown
60 Cotsall the Cotswold hills, in central England
61 judged decided conclusively
64 ’tis your fault you (Slender) are to blame for teasing Page
65 cur dog (may or may not be contemptuous)
68 would wish office service
71 in some sort partly/to some extent
73 at in Pistol pronounced to sound like “pizzle” (“penis”)
78 lodge hunting lodge/gamekeeper’s cottage
79 keeper’s gamekeeper’s
80 pin i.e., a trifle answered accounted for/responded to as a legal charge (Falstaff plays on the sense of “replied to”)
81 straight straight away
83 in counsel in secret (puns on Council)
84 Pauca verba Latin for “few words”
85 worts plants of the cabbage family (a joke on Evans’s pronunciation of “words”) broke wounded matter cause of complaint (Slender shifts the sense to “matter of significance,” while playing on the sense of “pus from a wound”)
87 cony-catching cheating (literally “rabbit-catching”)
89 Banbury cheese the Oxfordshire town was known for its thin cheeses; Slender is being mocked for being pale and slight
90 matter importance (plays on sense of “substance”)
91 Mephostophilus a devil, well known from Christopher Marlowe’s play Doctor Faustus
93 Slice i.e., gash him with a sword/slice him up like a cheese Pauca i.e., briefly (from pauca verba) humour inclination/frame of mind
96 fidelicet Evans means videlicet (Latin for “namely”)
97 three third
98 host innkeeper Garter perhaps a reference to the Garter Inn in Windsor
100 prief brief/summary
101 ’ork work discreetly discretion
104 tevil…tam devil and his dam (i.e., mother)
108 great chamber main room/hall groats fourpenny coins mill-sixpences sixpences that had their designs impressed on them in a stamping mill Edward shovel-boards shillings made in the reign of Edward VI (used in the game of shovel-board)
109 Yead i.e., Ed (Edward)
112 it is false he is dishonest (Evans responds to “true, Pistol” as if it were “true Pistol”—i.e., “honest Pistol”)
113 mountain-foreigner i.e., Welshman
114 combat challenge challenge combat (i.e., trial by combat) latten brass/tin-plate/thinly hammered bilbo sword (from Bilbao, Spanish town famed for sword manufacture)
115 labras lips (from either the Spanish labros or the Latin labra, both meaning “lips”)
118 Be avised think carefully/take my advice pass good humours be agreeable ‘marry trap’ contemptuous phrase of uncertain meaning, the general sense of which may be something like “be off with you/mind your own business/you’ve caught yourself out” marry by the Virgin Mary
119 run…me behave like a constable nuthook hooked stick used to pull nuts from trees; slang for “constable” very note right tune (i.e., the truth); perhaps with a play on “nut”
120 he…face i.e., Bardolph
122 Scarlet and John Will Scarlet and Little John were two of Robin Hood’s companions; Scarlet is applied to Bardolph because of his drunkard’s red nose
126 fap drunk cashiered dismissed/got rid of/thrown out of the tavern conclusions…careers his conclusions about what had happened galloped beyond all bounds career short gallop at full speed
131 ’udge judge mind intention
136 leave permission
138 pasty to pie for
140 book…Sonnets probably Songs and Sonnets, a collection of poems, most of them about love, published by Richard Tottel in 1557 and known as Tottel’s Miscellany
142 Book of Riddles unidentified; several Elizabethan collections of riddles existed
144 Allhallowmas All Saints’ Day, November 1 Michaelmas the feast of Saint. Michael, September 29; Simple is wrong in saying it is two weeks after Allhallowmas
145 stay wait
146 tender offer (i.e., of marriage, made on behalf of Slender) afar off indirectly/in a roundabout manner
148 do…reason i.e., behave in a reasonable manner/cooperate
152 motions suggestions
153 be capacity of have the capacity to understand
155 country district simple…here as sure as I stand here/although I seem humble/despite my own undistinguished status
159 demands requests
160 ’oman woman
161 divers various parcel part
162 carry…to feel inclination/affection for (with a quibble on the slang sense of will—i.e., “sexual desire/penis”)
165 possitable malapropism for “positively” carry her convey/direct
167 upon providing that she comes with/on the promise of
170 conceive understand
173 decrease malapropism for “increase”
176 dissolved resolved dissolutely malapropism for “resolutely”
177 fall i.e., error ’ord word
187 forsooth in truth
188 attends waits for
189 sirrah sir (authoritative) for all although
191 beholding indebted
192 what though what of it
198 fence fencing veneys technical (French) term for each assault in a fencing match (from venu, “come”); pun (not intended by Slender) on “Venus”, slang for prostitute
199 stewed prunes known to be a popular dish in brothels (“the stews”) smell…meat unintentionally suggesting whore’s flesh
202 the sport bearbaiting, a popular Elizabethan pastime
205 Sackerson a well-known bear kept at Paris Garden in Southwark
206 warrant assure
207 passed was past belief
208 ill-favoured ugly
211 cock and pie a mild oath; either a literal reference to fowl and cooked pie or a corruption of “God” and an allusion to the church rules concerning the celebration of Saints’ days you…choose polite way of saying “I insist/you have no choice”
215 keep on go ahead/carry on
1 of concerning
2 nurse housekeeper dry nurse i.e., not a wet nurse, who would look after a baby
3 laundry laundress wringer one who wrings out clothes after they have been washed
5 altogether’s acquaintance is well acquainted
7 solicit urge/court favor for
8 pippins apples
2 bully rook jolly companion/old rogue
4 bully Hercules old mate Hercules (the Greek hero) cashier dismiss wag move on
5 sit at live here at the cost of
6 Kaiser emperor Pheazar vizier (chief minister to a ruler), or possibly a nonsense word to rhyme with Caesar and Kaiser entertain employ
7 draw…tap withdraw liquor from a cask in the manner of an innkeeper Hector hero of the Trojan war
9 froth make the beer froth up on top as a means of serving less lime flavor wine with lime in order to mask its sourness I…word i.e., without further ado
11 tapster barman
12 jerkin close-fitting jacket
14 Hungarian wight thievish, beggarly person (with a play on “hungry”) spigot peg used to stop the hole in a cask of liquor
15 gotten in drink conceived while his parents were drunk Is…conceited isn’t that an ingenious/witty notion
16 acquit rid tinderbox i.e., Bardolph, an inflammable and red-faced man open obvious
18 good humour best method/way to do it at…rest in the space of a minute (rest plays on the sense of “moment of silence within a piece of music”)
19 fico “fig” (Italian; a contemptuous word, sometimes accompanied by the obscene gesture of thrusting the thumb between two fingers)
20 out at heels out of money (literally, with shoes or stockings worn through)
21 kibes chilblains
22 shift provide for myself/live by deception/live on my wits
25 ken the wight know the person
26 am about up to (Pistol interprets “measure about the waist”)
29 make love to court/woo
30 entertainment welcome/a pleasant reception (with sexual connotations) carves is a courteous and generous hostess/has sex leer sideways glance/sexually inviting look
31 construe interpret/translate/analyze grammatically action working/oratorical gesture (with sexual connotations) familiar usual/plain/courteous/overly intimate hardest voice most severe expression/most difficult grammatical form to translate
32 Englished translated into English
33 will inclination/sexual desire/legal document honesty chastity
35 The…deep probably “this idea (of Falstaff’s) is firmly entrenched” that humour pass Falstaff’s frame of mind change/Falstaff’s inclination get him anywhere/my neat expression gain approval
37 legion of angels great number of gold coins (plays on the sense of “host of heavenly beings”)
38 As…entertain employ just as many devils To her a cry of encouragement such as might be used to a hound pursuing prey
39 The humour rises the wit improves/(Falstaff’s) inclination grows Humour…angels let your inclination lead to the acquisition of the money (me is emphatic)
40 writ me written
42 oeillades amorous looks
45 humour turn of phrase
46 course run (her eyes) intention intent observation/purpose
47 burning-glass magnifying glass
48 purse plays on sense of “vagina” Guiana country in South America fabled for its great wealth
49 cheaters escheator, a district official who supervised escheats, estates that returned to the monarch’s possession in the absence of a valid heir (plays on sense of “sexual cheat, deceiver”) exchequers treasuries
50 trade plays on sense of “have sex with”
53 Pandarus of Troy in Greek legend, the go-between (or pander) in Troilus and Cressida’s love affair
54 And…steel i.e., and having stooped to such an unmanly profession, still call myself a soldier
55 run…humour undertake no such low task humour-letter having repeated humour so often, Nim’s use of it has begun to become meaningless; possibly he means “letter written out of fancy” or simply adds humour for contemptuous emphasis
56 ’haviour of reputation an honorable bearing/a reputable manner
57 tightly properly/well
58 pinnace small sailing vessel
59 avaunt be gone
60 o’th’hoof on foot pack be off
61 humour mood/fashion
62 French thrift economy, possibly a French tendency to have only one page rather than several attendants skirted wearing a coat with a fully skirted lower section
63 gripe grip/afflict the bowels with pain gourd and fullam false or loaded dice holds hold good/continue to be effective
64 high and low i.e., dice loaded to produce either high or low numbers beguiles deceives
65 Tester sixpence pouch (my) purse
66 Phrygian Turk i.e., base, barbarous person Phrygia region in Asia Minor conquered by the Turks in the fifteenth century; now part of modern Turkey
67 operations plans humours of inclinations for
69 welkin sky
70 wit or steel intelligence/ingenuity or violence (the sword)
71 humours methods discuss make known humour nature
72 eke also
74 prove put to the test (sexually)
77 yellowness i.e., jealousy revolt i.e., against Falstaff
79 Mars of malcontents most warlike of rebels Mars god of war
3 old great
6 posset hot drink made with milk, liquor, and spices soon at night before the night is too far advanced
7 sea-coal superior type of coal transported by sea from the north of England
8 withal with breed-bate troublemaker
9 peevish foolish/perverse
12 fault i.e., lack
15 glover glove maker paring-knife knife used for trimming leather
17 Cain-coloured reddish-yellow Cain in the Bible, the world’s first murderer
18 softly-sprighted gentle/mild in spirit
19 as…hands as brave (tall) a fighter between…head in these parts
20 warrener gamekeeper/one in charge of an enclosure for breeding rabbits
26 Out, alas! exclamation of dismay
27 shent blamed/rebuked
28 closet private room
29 doubt fear
31 And…adown-a the refrain of a song
32 toys trifles (i.e., songs)
33 une botie en vert French for “a green box” (boîtie may also mean “surgeon’s instrument case”) Do intend i.e., do you hear (from the French entendre)
36 horn-mad wildly enraged, like a horned beast/madly jealous like a cuckold (horned husband of an unfaithful wife)
37 ma…affaire by my faith, it’s very hot. I’m going to see the great business at the Court
40 Oui…Dépêche “yes; put it in my pocket: hurry up”
46 trot troth (faith) Od’s me God save me que ai-je oublié “what have I forgotten” simples medicinal herbs
49 diable devil larron thief
56 phlegmatic dull/cold; presumably Quickly means “choleric”—i.e., “angry/hot”
57 of on
64 ne’er…not never burn my fingers (i.e., meddle) unnecessarily
66 baillez bring
69 melancholy introspective/sullen/broodingly angry; perhaps another error for “choleric”
70 you since you ask; or simply emphatic yea…no truth
72 dress meat prepare food
74 charge responsibility/burden
75 avised aware/informed You…it i.e., it certainly is/let me assure you it is
76 I…it I wouldn’t wish any word of it to get out
79 jack’nape ape (hence “fool/upstart”) gar God
80 park enclosed hunting ground meddle or make interfere
82 stones testicles
84 ver for
85 Jack knavish
86 Jarteer Garter measure our weapon swords were measured before a duel to ensure that they were of equal length (weapon has phallic connotations)
88 prate chatter/gossip What the good-year what the devil
91 An puns on “Anne” (whom Caius will be a fool to woo)
96 trow wonder near in
100 honest chaste
101 friend sympathizer/favorer (with a play on the sense of “lover”)
104 book i.e., Bible
107 it…Nan what an extraordinary girl she is Nan diminutive of “Anne”
108 detest malapropism for “protest” (i.e., declare)
110 allicholy malapropism for “melancholy” go to expression of impatient dismissal
112 voice support
114 confidence malapropism for “conference”; Quickly means “private conversation”
118 Out upon’t expression of irritation
1 scaped escaped holiday-time best time/heyday
3 precisian puritan/strict spiritual adviser (some editors emend to “physician”) counsellor adviser/confidant
4 sympathy agreement/affinity (between us)
5 sack Spanish white wine
15 Herod of Jewry i.e., ranting villain; in the Bible, Herod of Judaea ordered the deaths of John the Baptist and the infant Jesus; he was presented in morality plays as both evil and absurdly boastful
16 gallant fashionable young gentleman/one who woos ladies unweighed unconsidered
17 Flemish from the Netherlands; the Flemish were proverbially heavy drinkers
19 should I say could I have said
21 putting down suppression (perhaps with sexual connotations)
22 puddings sausages (also used to refer to the human guts)
23 trust me believe me/depend upon it
24 ill unwell/out of sorts (Mistress Ford responds to the sense of “ugly”)
25 have have something (i.e., the letter)
30 respect consideration
34 go to hell i.e., by committing adultery with Falstaff
36 hack strike repeatedly with a sword/have sex/make a whore of a woman
37 article…gentry nature of your social rank
38 burn daylight i.e., waste time
39 make…liking discriminate between men’s physiques
41 uncomeliness unseemly behavior
42 gone…of accorded with
44 ‘Greensleeves’ a popular love song, here incongruously juxtaposed with the sacred tunes of the Psalms (some editors emend hundred to “hundredth,” suggesting specific allusion to Psalm 100, “All people that on earth do dwell / Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice”) tuns barrels/tons
46 entertain receive/welcome/occupy his attention
49 ill opinions Falstaff’s poor opinions of the women’s virtue
50 inherit take possession (of Falstaff’s offer)
53 into the press into the printing press/under pressure of his weight during sex
54 Mount Pelion in Greek mythology, warring giants piled Pelion on top of Mount Ossa in an attempt to reach Olympus, home of the gods
55 turtles turtledoves, proverbially faithful birds ere before
56 hand handwriting
58 wrangle…honesty quarrel with my own virtue
59 entertain treat/consider
60 strain quality
61 boarded accosted/wooed (Mistress Ford picks up on the sense of “have sex with”) fury fierce passion
62 above deck i.e., above the waist
63 come plays on the sense of “have an orgasm” hatches with vaginal connotations
64 comfort…suit encouragement in his courtship
65 fine-baited tempting/alluring/skillfully baited
68 chariness careful preservation
76 curtal with a tail docked or cut off
77 affects aims at/loves
81 gallimaufry mixture (literally, stew made from a variety of odds and ends) perpend consider
83 liver thought to be the seat of the passions Prevent i.e., act now to stop Falstaff
84 Actaeon in Greek mythology, the goddess Diana turned Actaeon into a stag after he had seen her bathing; he was then killed by his own hounds
85 Ringwood one of Actaeon’s hounds thy some editors emend to “his”
86 the name i.e., of cuckold (Actaeon’s horns made him a symbol of cuckoldry)
89 foot walk
90 cuckoo-birds known for laying their eggs in other birds’ nests; they were associated with cuckolds because of their name, and their call was considered a warning to married men
91 Away come away
95 should have borne was to have carried
96 upon my necessity when I need it
98 bread and cheese i.e., basic rations (perhaps those received in the service of Falstaff)
100 quoth a said he his its
102 affecting affected
103 it i.e., it to be true
104 Cataian person from Cathay (China), used to mean “scoundrel” though even if
111 crotchets whims/peculiar ideas
113 Have with you I’ll come with you/let’s go
115 fit it suit the part
123 offer attempt
124 yoke pair
128 lie lodge
129 voyage sexual advances
131 lie on my head be my responsibility/fault (in his response, Ford plays on the idea of wearing a cuckold’s horns on one’s head)
132 misdoubt mistrust/doubt turn them release them (language used of cattle)
135 ranting jovial/boisterous/verbally extravagant
136 pate head
139 Cavaliero knight/courtly gentleman (from the Spanish caballero or the Italian cavaliere)
140 Good…twenty good day, many times over
148 contrary different/opposing
149 no jester i.e., Evans is skilled at swordsmanship/Evans is deadly serious
150 my…guest-cavalier i.e., Falstaff, who is a guest at the Host’s inn
151 protest declare pottle drinking vessel containing half a gallon (about four pints) burned sack mulled wine/wine containing burnt sugar recourse access
153 egress and regress right of exit and entry (legal terms)
154 An-heires of unclear meaning; possibly a partly anglicized version of the Dutch mynheers (“gentlemen”) or a corruption of ameers or “emirs” (Arab princes or military commanders)
157 stand on distance attach importance to the prescribed distance between the two duellists
158 passes, stoccadoes thrusts (technical terms used in fencing) heart courage/spirit
159 long sword heavier weapon (the lighter rapier was now more fashionable)
160 tall brave/skillful with weapons
161 wag go
162 scold quarrel/wrangle
163 secure overconfident stands…frailty relies so firmly on what is in fact his wife’s moral weakness
164 his i.e., Falstaff’s
165 made did
166 sound sound the depth of/examine/make trial of
3 countenance to pawn borrow money on the strength of being in my service countenance standing/reputation
4 grated upon harassed with demands
5 coach-fellow companion (literally, one of a pair of horses harnessed to a coach) grate prison bars (plays on grated) gemini pair
7 handle…fan these were often made of precious material such as ivory or silver
8 took’t upon swore by
9 share have a share in it
10 Reason with good reason gratis for nothing
11 hang…me cease to be a burden to me (hang plays on the sense of “put to death”) a…throng i.e., go and find a crowd where you may cut people’s purse-strings with a short knife
12 Picked-hatch a brothel or a disreputable part of London (literally, the half-door surmounted by spikes that may have characterized a brothel)
13 unconfinable limitless/infinite
14 precise pure/scrupulously observed
15 on…hand disregarded/to one side
16 fain…lurch obliged to deceive, dodge, and cheat
17 ensconce hide, as in a small fort (sconce) cat-a-mountain wild cat red-lattice alehouse (wooden lattices painted red characterized a tavern)
18 bold-beating excessively presumptuous/repeatedly coarse
20 relent yield
23 Give God give
25 Not so i.e., I am not a wife
28 As…born Quickly means “just as much of an innocent maid as I was when I was born, like my mother was before me,” but actually says “just as much of a virgin as my mother was in childbirth”
31 vouchsafe permit (Quickly means something like “entreat”)
33 ways way
34 on go on
41 wanton seducer/lewd person/unruly one
44 canaries malapropism for “quandary”; a canary was either a dance or a wine wonderful astonishing
48 rushling Quickly means “rustling” alligant Quickly means “elegant”; alligant was a form of “alicant,” a Spanish wine
50 eye-wink of glance from
51 angels i.e., as a bribe for her help from one of the suitors
52 sort manner/way
54 pensioners “poor Knights of Windsor,” who prayed for the King in return for an annuity
56 she-Mercury female Mercury, the messenger of the gods
58 notify understand/take note
62 wot know
64 frampold sour-tempered
66 messenger Quickly means “message”
68 fartuous Quickly means “virtuous” civil modest decent and proper
69 miss you miss (you is emphatic)
72 charms magic spells
73 parts personal qualities/physical features
78 grace decency
80 of all loves for the sake of love infection to Quickly means “affection for”
83 list pleases
84 kind plays on the sense of “sexually willing”
88 nay-word code word
94 distracts bewilders
95 punk prostitute carriers messengers
96 Clap put (promptly) fights screens used during a sea battle to protect the crew
97 prize treasure/captured vessel whelm capsize/sink
98 Say’st…Jack? i.e., is that how things are (Falstaff is talking to himself)
99 look after look at (desirously)
100 grossly clumsily/coarsely (puns on the sense of “fat”)
101 so as long as fairly fully/well (puns on the sense of “handsome”)
102 fain eagerly
108 encompassed got hold of/got round (plays on the sense of “embraced”) via Italian exclamation of encouragement to action
111 make bold am presumptuous preparation advance warning
112 Give us leave leave us please drawer one who draws liquor/a tapster
115 sue beg charge burden— i.e., with expense
116 plight condition/health
117 unseasoned unseasonable/ill-timed
119 on go forward
121 carriage carrying (of it)
127 discover reveal
129 register record
130 sith since
136 observance attentiveness/dutiful service engrossed gathered fee’d employed
138 largely generously
139 would have given would like to have given to her
141 means methods/resources/wealth meed reward
144 flies flees substance wealth/body (as opposed to shadow)
145 that flies which runs away from it (love)
146 satisfaction payment/sexual gratification
148 importuned urged
152 erected plays on the idea of penile erection
155 honest chaste mirth enjoyment of pleasure/merriment
156 shrewd construction malicious judgment
157 great admittance i.e., widely received by society/admitted by the best persons
158 authentic respectable generally allowed approved of by all
159 preparations accomplishments
163 amiable amorous
165 apply well to be appropriate to/fit in with
166 preposterously perversely/irrationally/foolishly
167 drift plan
168 folly lewdness/foolishness
169 against at directly (as if she were the sun) detection accusation/exposure
170 instance evidence
171 ward protection/defensive posture (a fencing term)
172 her of her
178 Want lack
182 forth away from home
183 speed get on/succeed
186 wittolly contentedly cuckolded the which which reason
187 well-favoured good-looking
188 harvest-home harvest gathered in/celebratory harvest festival
190 mechanical base, coarse (from the word for a manual worker) salt-butter cheap
191 meteor considered to be a bad omen
192 predominate have ascendancy (an astrological term)
194 aggravate his style add to his title (by calling him cuckold and knave)
196 Epicurean pleasure-loving/sensual
197 improvident unwary/rash
199 false unfaithful/dishonest
200 stand…terms have to put up with being called offensive names
202 Amaimon…Barbason names of devils
203 additions names/titles
204 secure overconfident/unsuspecting
205 Fleming person from Flanders (a country in the Netherlands, whose inhabitants were supposedly very fond of butter)
206 aqua-vitae strong spirits such as whiskey
207 walk exercise ambling gelding easily ridden horse
8 no…as not so dead as he will be when
11 Villainy i.e., villain
14 ’Save God save
18 foin thrust/lunge with a sword traverse pierce with a sword/move from side to side in fencing
19 punto, thy stock thrust with the point of the sword reverse backhanded thrust or “punto reverso” distance (awareness of) the distance that must be kept from the opponent
20 montant upward thrust Ethiopian i.e., person of dark hair and complexion Francisco i.e., Frenchman
21 Aesculapius Greek god of medicine Galen famous second-century Greek physician heart of elder i.e., as opposed to the firm “heart of oak” that denoted courage; the elder tree is low and has soft wood bully stale my old laughingstock/my old inspector of urine (i.e., doctor)
24 Castalion perhaps suggesting Spanish (from Castile) king-urinal ruler over urine diagnosis Hector of Greece the famed warrior was in fact from Troy
28 against the hair contrary to/against the grain
32 Bodykins by God’s dear body
33 make one join in
34 salt savor/liveliness
41 guest-justice like Falstaff, Shallow is also staying at the Garter Inn Mockwater i.e., one who analyzes urine, perhaps with “mock” suggesting a degree of quackery (plays on “make water”—i.e., urinate from fear)
44 Jack-dog male dog/mongrel/knavish dog
46 clapper-claw beat/thrash
54 Frogmore small village near Windsor
60 for a jack-an-ape on behalf of an ape (i.e., Slender)
63 Cried game probably a sporting exclamation
67 adversary the Host knows that Caius will misunderstand and take the word to mean something like “advocate”
3 physic medicine
4 Petty-ward i.e., toward Windsor Little (“petit”) Park Park-ward toward Windsor Great Park Old Windsor village near Windsor, south of Frogmore
8 chollors choler (i.e., bile/anger)
9 knog knock (possibly “knot”) urinals vessel containing urine for medical inspection (possibly Evans confusedly intends “testicles”)
10 costard head (literally, large apple)
12 To shallow rivers throughout the following two stanzas, Evans sings parts of Christopher Marlowe’s well-known poem “Come live with me and be my love” falls cascades/waterfalls
13 madrigals songs for several voices (more generally, pastoral or love songs)
19 When…Pabylon Evans inserts a line from the metrical version of Psalm 137 Pabylon Babylon
20 vagram vagrant (malapropism for “fragrant”)
22 he i.e., Caius
26 No weapons presumably Simple means that, unlike Evans, Caius has not yet drawn his sword
33 from Evans means “for”
34 word i.e., scripture
35 doublet and hose close-fitting jacket and breeches (without his gown)
39 belike probably
40 at most odds at the greatest variance
42 fourscore eighty (literally, four times twenty)
43 wide…respect indifferent to his own reputation/far from proper consideration of himself/far from his own nature
47 as lief just as soon/rather
48 mess of porridge serving of meat and vegetable stew, eaten before the main course
50 Hibocrates Hippocrates, famous Greek physician of the fifth century BC
51 a cowardly i.e., as cowardly a
52 he’s i.e., Evans
58 question dispute/debate
59 hack our English mangle the English language instead
66 cockscomb head (literally, cap resembling the comb of a cock, worn by a professional fool)
67 stay waited
70 judgement by judged by/ruled by the judgment of
71 Gallia and Gaul Wales (from the French “Galles”) and France
74 politic cunning/wily subtle crafty/sly
75 Machiavel intriguer/unscrupulous schemer (from Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince, a sixteenth-century treatise perceived as advocating political cunning)
76 motions bowel motions (i.e., laxatives or enemas)
77 no-verbs warnings as to what is forbidden/ (Welsh) nonsense words terrestrial i.e., Caius, who ministers to the body
78 celestial i.e., Evans, who deals with spiritual matters art skill/learning
80 issue outcome to pawn i.e., as they are no longer needed
84 sot fool
85 vlouting-stog flouting-stock (i.e., laughingstock)
86 scall scald (i.e., scabby/scurvy/contemptible)
87 cogging companion cheating rascal
90 noddles head
1 keep your way keep going were wont used
2 Whether which
9 as…together as idle as she can be whilst remaining in one piece/those who are as idle as she is may as well keep each other company
13 his…of is the name of the person my husband got the boy from
17 league i.e., of friendship
23 twelve score (from a distance of) 240 paces or yards pieces out increases
24 folly lewdness motion and advantage prompting and opportunity
25 hear…wind foresee what is to come (as one may anticipate rain before it actually arrives)
26 revolted i.e., from virtue and fidelity
27 take him catch him out/encounter him
28 divulge reveal
29 wilful willing Actaeon i.e., a cuckold (due to the horns he received when turned into a stag)
30 cry aim applaud/shout encouragement (a term from archery)
34 knot group/company cheer entertainment/food and drink
38 break with break my word to
46 capers is merry and lively/dances/leaps
47 speaks holiday speaks in a lively, entertaining way/uses choice language
48 carry’t be successful/carry it off ’tis…buttons he has the essential quality within him/he is sure to succeed
49 having wealth, means
50 wild…Poins i.e., Prince Henry and Poins, who appear in Shakespeare’s Henry IV plays region social standing
51 knit a knot secure/repair substance wealth
52 simply i.e., as she is, with no dowry
55 monster i.e., Falstaff, imaged here as a so-called monster exhibited at a fair
59 anon shortly
60 hearts fine friends canary sweet wine from the Canary Islands (in Ford’s response, he plays on the sense of “lively dance”)
62 pipe wine wine from the wooden cask (pipe puns on the sense of “musical instrument”) make him dance i.e., make him leap/beat him
63 gentles gentlemen
64 Have with we shall come
2 buck-basket laundry basket (to buck is to wash)
6 charge instructions
7 hard close
8 brew-house outhouse for brewing beer
10 whitsters bleachers of clothing Datchet Mead meadow between Windsor Little Park and the River Thames
16 eyas-musket young hawk that has not been fully trained
19 Jack-a-Lent figure or puppet of a man traditionally pelted during Lent
21 liberty i.e., unemployment
22 turn me away sack me
28 humidity dampness/collection of fluids (i.e., Falstaff)
29 pumpion pumpkin turtles from jays turtledoves (proverbially faithful) from brightly colored birds (i.e., loose women)
30 Have…jewel? a slightly adapted line from Philip Sidney’s sonnet sequence Astrophil and Stella
31 period goal/climax
33 cog cheat/flatter prate prattle/brag
39 ship-tire ornamental headdress shaped like or inspired by a ship tire-valiant elaborate headdress Venetian admittance accepted as fashionable in stylish Venice
40 kerchief simple head covering become suit
42 absolute perfect
43 firm…foot confident tread semi-circled farthingale semicircular boned petticoat worn underneath the back of the dress
44 Fortune…friend i.e., Nature has favored Mistress Ford with beauty but Fortune has prevented her from being a lady (Falstaff continues to imply that he could raise her estate)
49 hawthorn-buds i.e., budding courtiers/affected young gallants
50 Bucklersbury street in the City of London known for shops selling medicinal herbs simple time midsummer, when herbs (simples) were most readily available
53 Counter-gate gate to the Counter, a debtor’s prison in Southwark
54 reek smoke/foul smell lime-kiln kiln for making mortar
59 blowing puffing presently immediately
60 ensconce me hide myself arras large tapestry wall hanging
64 undone ruined
66 well-a-day expression of regret to as
69 Out upon you! expression of frustration and condemnation
77 clear innocent/free from blame
78 friend lover amazed stunned
79 good life i.e., existence as a respectable woman/reputation
84 stand waste time (saying)
85 conveyance contrivance to get Falstaff out of the house
88 whiting-time bleaching time
96 dissembling deceptive
98 cowl-staff pole used by two people to carry a cowl (tub or basket)
99 drumble move sluggishly
103 what…do what business is it of yours You…buck-washing a proper concern of yours is it to interfere with washing clothes
105 Buck laundry, but Ford puns on the senses of “stag,” whose horns represent cuckoldry, and “lecherous man”
106 of the season in the rutting season
107 tonight i.e., last night
108 chambers inner rooms/bedrooms unkennel drive out
109 uncape uncover (or perhaps a printer’s error for “escape” or “uncase”)
110 contented calm/satisfied
119 taking agitated state
121 need of washing i.e., as he may have urinated or defecated in fright
123 strain nature
127 try test
129 carrion old bag/whore
135 compass achieve/embrace
137 use treat
144 presses large cupboards
147 distemper…kind bad temper/disordered mind of this sort
150 as…desires as I could possibly wish for (unintentionally punning on the sense of “as I could desire sexually”)
158 a-birding hunt small birds using a hawk to drive them into leafless bushes
163 remembrance…host i.e., let us remember the revenge we have planned on the Host for the trick he played on us over the duel
2 turn refer
4 be thyself i.e., take matters into your own hands
6 state…expense my estate being damaged by my spending galled made sore through chafing
8 bars obstacles
9 riots wasteful/dissipated lifestyle societies companionships
13 speed prosper
17 stamps coins (stamped with an image)
24 Break interrupt
25 I’ll…on’t i.e., I’ll do it one way or another (a shaft is a slender arrow used in a longbow, while a bolt is the shorter, thicker one used in a crossbow) ’Slid by God’s eyelid (a common phrase) but venturing only a matter of having a go
26 dismayed frightened; Slender’s reply suggests that he does not understand the word
30 ill-favoured ugly
33 thou…father i.e., remember that you had a valiant father/a father who once wooed a woman; Slender misunderstands this as a prompt for conversation with Anne
40 come…long-tail come what may (literally, refers to a horse/dog with either a docked or a long tail)
41 jointure marriage settlement provided for the wife by the husband in the event of his death
47 will wish (Slender understands the legal sense of the term; there may also be a play on the sense of “sexual desire”)
48 ’Od’s heartlings by God’s dear heart
52 motions urgings happy…dole i.e., may the man who gets you be happy with his lot
57 haunt hang around
67 for that because
69 Perforce of necessity checks rebukes/obstacles manners means of behaving (to me)
70 advance the colours raise the flag (as if toward an opposing army)
72 yond yonder
75 set quick buried alive (up to the neck)
80 affected inclined
86 once at some point
87 There’s i.e., there’s money
91 sooth truth
93 speciously malapropism for “specially” of be on
3 quart i.e., two pints toast piece of hot toast sometimes added to wine
4 barrow barrow-load
7 slighted me tipped me contemptuously
8 blind bitch’s puppies the newborn, blind puppies of a bitch
9 down sink
10 shore was shelvy banks were sloping
12 mummy dead flesh
15 reins kidneys
17 cry you mercy beg your pardon
18 pottle drinking vessel containing half a gallon (equivalent to four pints)
20 Simple plain/unmixed (with eggs) I’ll I’ll have pullet-sperm chicken seed (i.e., eggs)
24 ford river water
25 take on with rant at, berate
26 erection malapropism for “direction” (i.e., instruction; Falstaff’s response brings in the architectural and phallic senses)
28 yearn move to compassion
33 frailty moral frailty (contrasted here with Falstaff’s supposed resolution in keeping his appointment with Mistress Ford)
37 miss fail to meet
47 sped you were you successful
48 ill-favouredly poorly
49 determination intention/decision
50 peaking cornuto skulking/mean-spirited cuckold
51 ’larum alarm/agitation comes me comes (me is an intensifier)
52 protested declared (love)
62 Rammed perhaps, coming after buck, with a play on “ram” (male sheep, horned like the buck, and also associated with lust)
63 that so that
68 knaves, his hinds servants (both terms may also be derogatory)
72 held with held
73 mark note
74 several separate
75 detected with discovered by rotten diseased bell-wether ram (sometimes castrated) wearing a bell round his neck as a means of leading the flock compassed surrounded/bent over like a strong sword bilbo sword from Bilbao, town in Spain noted for excellent sword manufacture
76 peck two-gallon container used to store dry goods stopped shut, stoppered
77 distillation concentrated substance fretted became corroded/fermented
78 kidney constitution/nature
79 dissolution melting/dissolving (puns on the sense of “loose living”)
81 Dutch dish the Dutch were supposedly very fond of butter
84 good sadness all seriousness
86 Etna volcano in Sicily
88 embassy message
96 hole…coat i.e., even I have a fault (proverbial; possibly with sexual connotations)
99 halfpenny purse small purse for small coins
101 what I am i.e., a cuckold
102 horn-mad wildly enraged, like a horned beast/madly jealous like a cuckold
2 by this by this time
3 courageous vigorously/extremely, or possibly a malapropism for “outrageous(ly)”
4 suddenly immediately
6 playing-day holiday
8 is…play i.e., has asked that the boys be given a holiday, the privilege of a visitor to the school
11 accidence principles of Latin grammar; the following examples are drawn from William Lilly and John Colet’s A Short Introduction of Grammer, the official prescribed text for schools
15 Two i.e., single and plural
17 ‘Od’s nouns’ Quickly is confusing the abbreviated phrase “by God’s (i.e., Christ’s) wounds” with the idea of odd numbers
18 Peace your tattlings! Leave off your prattling!
20 Polecats weasel-like animals/whores (pronounced in a more similar manner than today, Quickly is confusing the word with the Latin pulcher)
27 articles i.e., the (definite article) or a/an (indefinite article)
28 Articles…hoc a direct quotation from Lilly’s Grammer pronoun part of speech used to designate an object without naming it directly; e.g., “this/that”
29 Singulariter in the singular nominativo in the nominative case hic, haec, hoc common Latin pronouns
30 genitivo the genitive case (is)
32 hinc the correct form is in fact hunc, though Evans fails to spot this (unless his subsequent hing is a printer’s error for hung)
33 hing, hang, hog i.e., hunc, hanc, hoc
34 ‘Hang-hog’ hanging up a pig is necessary to produce bacon
35 prabbles silly chatter/irritating interruptions focative i.e., vocative; Evans’s pronunciation inadvertently plays on “fuck” case plays on the sense of “vagina”
36 O suggestive of the vagina
37 caret Latin for “is missing”; Quickly’s response shows that she hears the word as “carrot,” which, along with root, is slang for “penis”
44 horum plays on “whore” harum plays on “hare” (another slang term for a prostitute)
45 Vengeance of a plague upon Ginny’s case Quickly misunderstands “genitive case” as “this woman Ginny’s case (vagina)”
48 hick…hack drink (hiccup) and to go whoring/to have sex (with whores)
54 declension the variation of a pronoun etc. through its different cases
57 preeches breeched (i.e., whipped on the buttocks)
59 sprag i.e., sprack (smart/alert)
1 sufferance suffering
2 obsequious compliant/dutiful
3 office role/(sexual) performance accoutrement adornments, apparel
4 complement accompanying etiquette sure of secure from
6 gossip friend
9 people i.e., servants
14 lines tricks takes on rants
16 complexion appearance/coloring
17 Peer out i.e., show yourselves (addressed to his cuckold’s horns)
18 to compared to
24 experiment trial
31 bestow dispose of/stow (him) away
35 what make you what are you doing
38 use…birding-pieces make it a custom to fire their guns
39 kiln-hole opening to the oven
42 abstract list
45 semblance appearance
49 muffler scarf covering part of the face and the neck
50 mischief injury, misfortune
51 Brentford originally “Brainford,” a village between Windsor and London, known for amorous assignations above upstairs
53 thrummed fringed/with a shaggy surface
54 look look for
56 straight straight away the while in the meantime
58 shape outward appearance/disguise
64 good sadness all seriousness
65 intelligence information
66 try test
72 dishonest deceitful, lecherous
74 honest chaste, virtuous
75 act actually commit misdeeds/have sex
76 still quiet draff swill, leftovers given to pigs
77 hard at close by/right at the
78 dispatch hurry
81 as lief rather
82 Ay…again? Ford’s reply to whatever Page has just said—presumably something to the effect of “if it prove false that Falstaff is there, you will look like a fool”
84 panderly pimping/go-between
85 gin gang Now…shamed i.e., now the truth will out (proverbial: “speak the truth and shame the devil”)
88 passes surpasses/is excessive
89 be pinioned have your wings clipped
97 hold it out keep up your deception
107 flea’s death i.e., a miserable death/he shall be crushed like a parasitic insect
109 fidelity faith
114 show…extremity offer no excuse for my extreme behavior
115 table-sport joke amongst company
116 leman lover
122 quean hussy/whore cozening cheating
123 of on
124 under the profession in the name
125 by th’figure by drawing up horoscopes daubery trickery element understanding (literally, the element in which one rightfully belongs)
129 Mother Prat prat means “a trick” though it was also slang for the buttocks
130 prat practice tricks on/beat (or simply a nonce-word derived from the name) rag worthless wretch
131 runnion abusive term for a woman, perhaps “mangy old bag”
133 ’Tis…you i.e., that will reflect well on you (said in irony)
135 By…no a very mild oath (moderated from the Quarto text’s stronger “By Jesu”)
138 cry…trail bark like a hunting dog when there is in fact no scent open bark loudly at a scent
139 obey his humour humor him
143 hallowed blessed/dedicated to God
144 meritorious deserving of reward
145 warrant assurance/authorization (with play on the legal sense: “document authorizing a judicial sentence”)
147 wantonness lust
148 fee-simple absolute possession (legal term used of land or property) fine and recovery legal procedures employed to transfer the ownership of land
149 waste legal term referring to the damage or alteration of land or property by a tenant (puns on “waist”)
150 served treated (with a play on the sense of “had sex with”)
151 figures fantasies
153 ministers agents
155 period conclusion
156 shape it i.e., as one would mold hot iron in the forge
6 sauce them make them pay overly high prices
7 at command at their disposal
8 come off pay up
1 ’Tis…’oman she is one of the most prudent/sensible women
2 an instant the same time
7 heretic unbeliever/holder of unorthodox religious beliefs
22 use treat/behave toward
24 Herne the hunter huntsman of great skill who was wounded after saving the king from a vicious stag; his own life was saved when the dead beast’s antlers were tied to his head, but he was later framed for or caught poaching and hanged himself from an oak in Windsor Great Park, which he is said to haunt
25 Sometime at one point/formerly
27 ragged rough, jagged
28 blasts withers takes bewitches
29 milch-kine dairy cows
32 eld people from the past
35 want lack
41 shape disguise/appearance
45 growth size
46 urchins goblins/elves oafs goblin or elf children/changelings
47 tapers candles
50 sawpit pit over which wood was laid to be sawn
51 diffusèd confused, disordered
59 sound soundly
68 vizards masks
73 Eton village over the river from Windsor
76 properties theatrical props
77 tricking adornments
83 well landed in possession of a good amount of land
84 he…affects my husband favors him most
1 boor peasant, ill-bred fellow thick-skin idiot discuss declare
4 standing-bed and truckle-bed the truckle-bed was a smaller bed on castors kept beneath the main (standing) bed
5 Prodigal the Prodigal (extravagant) Son, who appears in the biblical parable (Luke 15)
6 Anthropophaginian cannibal
10 lungs military military lungs
11 Ephesian boon companion/fellow degenerate
13 Bohemian-Tartar i.e., savage, dissolute person
14 Privacy seclusion, concealment (implying that Falstaff has been having sex with the “woman”)
18 wise woman woman skilled in magic
19 mussel-shell perhaps Simple is gaping open-mouthed or is being imaged as something worthless and insignificant
21 beguiled deceived
31 conceal malapropism for “reveal”
39 like…bold as bold as the boldest
41 clerkly learned
46 mere absolute
47 varletto i.e., varlet, loosely Italianized by the Host
49 slough of mire muddy bog
50 Doctor Faustuses In Christopher Marlowe’s play of the same name, Doctor Faustus, a German, sold his soul to the devil; this passage seems to allude to a scene in which three characters are thrown in a mire
55 entertainments the hospitality you provide for your guests
56 cozen-germans cheating Germans/men pretending to be Germans (plays on “cousin german”—i.e., first cousin)
57 Readings…Colebrook small towns not far from Windsor (Readings is Caius’s Welsh plural for Reading; Colebrook is now Colnbrook)
58 vlouting-stocks flouts (i.e., mockery); literally flouting-stocks (i.e., laughingstocks)
59 convenient appropriate
62 dat…come i.e., who is known to have arrived or is due to arrive at court
63 Jamany i.e., Germany
65 Hue…villain a cry used to call for the pursuit of a criminal (addressed to Bardolph)
70 liquor smear with oil or grease (to render waterproof)
72 forswore…primero cheated in a card game but swore that I had not wind breath
76 dam mother
77 bestowed got rid of
79 speciously malapropism for “specially”
83 like likely/about
84 But were it not for the fact that
90 crossed thwarted
1 over up (my efforts in support of your pursuit of Anne Page)
5 counsel secret
9 So far forth insofar
10 to in accordance with
12 mirth i.e., the humorous account of the humiliation of Falstaff larded…matter intermingled with my current concerns
15 scene i.e., role in the drama image idea
16 at large in full (Fenton may be showing the Host Anne’s letter)
20 rank on foot abundantly afoot
26 shuffle smuggle
27 tasking of occupying
28 dean’ry house belonging to the dean of a church
31 it rests the matter stands
33 habit clothing
36 denote mark out
38 quaint prettily/fashionably loose enrobed loosely dressed/gowned with an outer garment
39 pendent hanging flaring spread out/waving in the wind
40 vantage opportunity
41 token sign
46 stay wait
49 husband manage (with an obvious pun) device plan
52 present immediate
1 hold keep the appointment
2 divinity divine power
6 wears wears away/is running out mince i.e., get moving (literally, walk daintily/trippingly)
15 Goliath…beam according to the Bible, the giant Goliath had a spear like a weaver’s beam (i.e., wooden roller in a loom)
16 shuttle another quotation adapted from the Bible; a shuttle was an instrument used in weaving for passing thread to and fro
17 whipped top made a top (child’s toy) spin by lashing it
20 in hand are happening
1 couch lie/hide
3 nay-word code word
4 ‘mum’…‘budget’ “mumbudget” was a phrase meaning “keep silent”
7 decipher reveal
8 become suit
2 dispatch get on with it/conclude it
6 chafe be vexed/inflamed
11 obscured concealed
14 choose but amaze fail to terrify/astound
1 Trib trip (i.e., come on/move nimbly)
2 watch-’ords watchwords (i.e., password/signal)
2 Jove…Europa Europa, daughter of the King of Phoenicia, was carried away by Jove, king of the gods; disguised as a bull, he swam to Crete with her on his back
4 Leda in the guise of a swan, Jupiter (or Jove) seduced Leda, wife of the King of Sparta
6 fault sin, with particular application to fornication and possible play on “vagina”
7 backs loins
9 rut-time mating season piss my tallow piss away my fat; stags were thought to urinate more frequently during the mating season, by the end of which their energetic behavior had caused them to lose weight
10 piss my tallow piss away my fat; stags were thought to urinate more frequently during the mating season, by the end of which their energetic behavior had caused them to lose weight doe female deer/mate/whore
11 deer puns on “dear”
12 scut tail/vulva potatoes sweet or Spanish potatoes were considered aphrodisiacs
13 kissing-comfits confectionary for sweetening the breath eryngoes candied roots of the sea holly; a type of sweetmeat viewed as an aphrodisiac
14 provocation sexual stimulation
15 sweetheart puns on “sweet hart” (i.e., male deer)
16 Divide…buck in order to conceal the theft, stolen (bribed) deer were cut up and divided rapidly amongst the poachers
17 fellow…walk gamekeeper of this part of the wood
18 woodman hunter/womanizer/lunatic
19 Cupid…restitution i.e., Cupid is conscientiously making amends to me
24 oil i.e., grease/fat
25 cross thwart Hobgoblin another name for Puck or Robin Goodfellow
27 shades spirits
28 orphan parentless/neglected/friendless heirs…destiny offspring who have set roles to carry out/inheritors of destiny (perhaps with the power to influence it)
29 Attend…quality attend to your duties and particular occupations
30 Crier town crier, maker of public announcements oyez i.e., “hear ye”
31 list listen for toys insubstantial creatures
33 unraked without coals and ashes heaped together to maintain burning through the night
34 bilberry small blue-black fruit
37 wink shut my eyes eye observe
40 Raise…fantasy stimulate her imagination, give her delightful dreams
41 Sleep she may she sleep careless free from anxiety
42 as who
44 About about it/to action
46 oafs elves
47 perpetual doom judgment day
48 as…fit as sound in condition as it is deserving of dignity
49 Worthy worthy of
50 several…order individual seats assigned to the Knights of the Garter (in the castle chapel)
51 balm fragrant herbs
52 instalment stall (i.e., place or seat assigned to a knight) coat coat of arms crest heraldic device originally worn on a helmet
53 blazon banner bearing the coat of arms
55 compass circle (i.e., the Garter ribbon, worn below the knee)
56 Th’expressure picture, expression (i.e., fairy-ring or circle of darker green grass)
58 Honi…pense “shamed be he who thinks evil (of it)” (the French motto that appeared on the Garter ribbons)
61 Buckled tied
62 charactery writing
64 dance of custom customary dance
68 measure stately dance
69 man of middle-earth i.e., a mortal, dwelling on the earth (midway between heaven and hell)
71 cheese supposedly the favorite food of the Welsh
72 o’erlooked looked on with the evil eye, bewitched
73 trial-fire testing fire touch me touch (me is emphatic)
75 turn expose start recoil, flinch
78 wood i.e., Falstaff’s finger
81 About surround
82 trip dance/skip still continually
84 fantasy imaginings/amorous desire
luxury lechery green…Anne the original Quarto stage direction has Caius taking a boy in red, Slender one in green, and Anne in white; see “Text” in Key Facts
85 bloody fire fire in the blood/lustful fire
89 mutually all together
93 watched spied and caught
94 serve your turn do for you
95 hold…higher maintain the joke no more
97 yokes Falstaff’s antlers are shaped like the oxen’s yoke
102 arrested seized by legal warrant (until the debt is paid)
104 meet encounter one another amorously
105 deer puns on “dear”
107 proofs i.e., his horns extant apparent/protruding
109 surprise…powers ambush of my faculties/understanding
110 foppery trickery, foolery in…of in spite of, the face of
111 wit intelligence
112 Jack-a-Lent figure of a man traditionally pelted during Lent, butt of jokes
119 wants matter lacks the means
120 o’erreaching deception with by
121 coxcomb fool’s cap (with a crest like a cock’s comb) frieze coarse woolen cloth
124 fritters fried scraps of battered meat late-walking going out with whores late at night
129 hodge-pudding pudding made from a random assortment of ingredients bag of flax sack of flax (plant fibers used for cloth)
130 puffed swollen
131 intolerable insufferable/excessively large/impossible to carry
133 Job in the Bible, Job suffered great poverty; his wife advised him to curse God for it
136 metheglins spiced liquor of Welsh origin starings glares
138 theme subject (of your mockery) start of advantage over dejected cast down, humbled, humiliated
139 flannel coarse woolen cloth Ignorance…me I am searched to the very depths by ignorance itself (i.e., Evans); may pun on “plumbet” (woolen fabric) plummet device for measuring the depth of the sea
142 should…pander were to have been a pimp
145 posset hot drink made with milk, liquor, and spices
148 this this time, now
151 dispatched managed things
154 Of what i.e., know of what
156 lubberly loutish
157 swinged beaten
158 postmaster keeper of post horses (which were hired out for the swift conveyance of messages)
159 took the wrong went wrong (in following instructions); Slender responds to the sense of “made a mistake (in thinking the boy was Anne)”
162 had him accepted him as my wife/had sex with him
165 green most editors emend to “white” for consistency with the setup in Act 5 scene 2
168 white most editors emend to “green” for consistency with the setup in Act 4 scene 6
171 paysan peasant
172 white most editors emend to “green” for consistency with the setup in Act 5 scene 3
173 raise rouse
180 amaze bewilder
182 proportion…love balanced, mutual loving relationship
183 contracted engaged (secretly)
184 sure firmly bound
187 unduteous title undutifulness title name
188 evitate avoid
192 guide the state rule matters
194 stand advantageous position from which a hunter may shoot
195 glanced struck superficially
199 muse wonder/grumble