Over 60 ... And Getting Younger: February 8, 2013

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Over 60 ... And Getting Younger: February 8, 2013

Written by Stanley Greenberg Friday, 08 February 2013 00:00

Recently, in my Shakespeare class at SUNY Old Westbury with Professor Hegde, the class was given as assignment. It was “discuss whether and/or why Shakespeare should be considered a creative genius.”

It is a fact that the plots or storylines in all of Shakespeare’s plays (about 36 of them) were based on pre-existing sources, in many instances, stories by other authors, Plutarch’s lives, etc.

Shakespeare took these stories and fleshed them out. This included adding brilliant dialogue and turning the story into an interesting and historically correct play. There were no English dictionaries during his lifetime so Shakespeare coined and invented many words and phrases that are today considered integral parts of the English Llanguage.

You may be surprised at these additions to English, which had not yet been formalized. Some of his coined statements:

“Knock, Knock, Knock! Who’s there?”— Macbeth

“Neither an borrower, nor a lender be.”— Hamlet

“Parting is such sweet sorrow.”— Romeo and Juliet

“Neither rime nor reason.”— The Comedy of Errors

“To thine own self be true.”— Hamlet

“Too much of a good thing.”— As You Like It

“Wild-goose chase.”— Romeo and Juliet

“All the Worlds a stage and all the men and women merely players.”— As You Like It

Shakespeare’s vocabulary was 25,000 words; today’s college students’ vocabularies are somewhere around 5,000 words. Some more terms coined by William Shakespeare and still used today like amazement, birthplace, cold-blooded, dawn, eyeball, fashionable, generous, ill-tempered, jaded, love letter, majestic, outgrow, puppy dog, quarrelsome, rascally, schoolboy, tranquil, useful, vulnerable, well-behaved, yelping and zany.

Also: gossip, luggage, marketable, mimic, obscene, undress and submerge. More phrases: a fools paradise; foregone conclusion; sorry sight; dead as a doornail; bag and baggage; Ides of March; fairplay; good riddance; in stitches; heart’s content; tongue-tied; tower of strength; Greek to me; love is blind and vanish into thin air.

The English language today is certainly richer for the many words and phrases created by the genius of William Shakespeare.

News

Beautifying With Street Lights

Thursday, 20 June 2013 00:00

Nassau County Legislator Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury) joined with community leaders in front of street lights which have started to be installed in the Hamlet of Oyster Bay. Jacobs and the Town of Oyster Bay were each able to provide funding for the street lights.
Jacobs said: “The combination of the lamp posts and the new street signs gives a nautical look to the entire area. It is always a pleasure to share in the happiness which we derive from enhancing our downtowns.”

(Left to right) Rob Brusca; Board Member Oyster Bay-East Norwich Chamber of Commerce; Susan Dembo; Susan Dembo Acupuncture; Fran Walker: Chef Fran’s Kitchen; Leg. Jacobs; John DeLillo: Treasurer, OB/EN Chamber; Michele Browner: Secretary, OB/EN Chamber; Dottie Simons: President, OB/EN Chamber.

Town Lowers Speed Limit On Cold Spring Road

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 00:00

The Town of Oyster Bay unanimously voted to decrease the speed limit on a stretch of Cold Spring Road from Arizona Avenue to Laurel Hollow from 40 mph to 30 mph last Tuesday during a town board meeting. The selected area had become a primary concern for residents of Syosset and nearby towns and villages, following multiple accidents over the past few years.

Cold Spring Road is a Nassau County road, and the Town of Oyster Bay maintains jurisdiction on setting speed limits within the town’s locations.

Sports

Bruce Grant Earns Honorable Mention

Thursday, 20 June 2013 00:00

Bruce Grant received honorable mention All-Liberty League singles accolades for their play his season. The all-conference awards are voted on by the Liberty League head coaches.

Grant split time between the top two singles spots. He was 6-16, including a 4-8 mark at No. 2, finishing his career with three wins in his final five matches, all against conference opponents. Grant was named the Liberty League Performer of the Week on April 15 after posting a 2-1 singles record and a 2-1 doubles record, suffering his only losses that week against eventual Liberty League champion Vassar.