A friend sent along a link to a hilarious (and useful) “kit” for creating and hurling Shakespearean insults.
Check it out here. The creators are to be congratulated for fine scholarship and heck of a fun online toy.
Here are some results we’ve been enjoying in the office:
You, sir, are a “pribbling, milk-livered scut.”
You, madam, are a “wimpled, whoreson Basket-Cockle.”
You, Mr. Editor, are a “craven, hasty-witted bugbear.”
You, Mr. President, are an “unmuzzled, scurvy-valiant wagdog.”
You can also get an official insult hurled at you from Shakespeare himself here.
I just got: “I find the ass in compound with the major part of your syllables.” (from Coriolanus )
At the last Cal Shakes production I attended, I bought a mug of Shakespearean insults as a gift for my ex-husband (to humor him, not to insult him).
Some include:
mountain of mad-flesh
lump of foul deformity
quintessence of dust
Column three of your linked-list would make for some fine sobriquets, I think. Someone I know refers to children as ‘darlings;’ however, her tone quite says the opposite. She might as well call them pignuts or wagtails.