Articles of Speech
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Thy and You
When using these archaic forms of address, think in terms of the formal and
informal. You is actually used to address those of higher social status or rank.

It may also be used to address strangers on the merits of wishing to impart
flattery.

For instance, it is entirely appropriate to address the Queen, your employer, your

elders or that most noble of beasts, your horse, with you.
You can also be used as a form of address to those who appear to be snobbish or acting as though they are better than thou. In other words, it could sarcastically convey to such a person, Hey you! Get off your high horse!

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The Rule of Thou and Thee
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When attempting to use thou or thee, think about whether you are addressing
the subject or the object of your words/actions.

When thou is the subject of a sentence, it performs the action. Consider these examples:
Thou art a beslubbering, beef-witted horn-beast. What sayest thou to that?

However, when the person you are addressing is the object of a sentence, thee receives or modifies the action. Thus:
Thy bosom rivets my roving eye, sweet wench! A thousand [broken] promises shall I shower upon thee.

A word about Ye
There is much confusion over this little word. The word is actually a plural of
both you and thou and is not a substitute for the as in Ye Olde Pub. (That
usage came much later than this period.) Proper use of the word comes when
addressing a crowd, such as "Hear ye, hear ye." Or "O come, all ye faithful." Or, as in, Do ye hear?

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Thy and Thine, My and Mine
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These modes of address are possessive forms of speech:
Thy is the possessive form of thou used before words beginning with a
consonant: thy hands, thy horse, thy beek-nosed wench.

Thine is the possessive form of thou and is used before words beginning with
a vowel: thine apple, thine eyes, thine artless ways.

My is the possessive form used before a word beginning with a consonant:
my cow, my shilling, my knavery.

Mine is the possessive form used before a word beginning with a vowel:
mine ague (a cold), mine eyes, etc.

Otherwise.
Use he, she, they and it just as you to today. Likewise, use who, whom and
which as you to today. Note that which may also be used for who, as in
Our Father which art in heaven

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Grammer and Syntax
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(The Elizabethans had their own system of stringing words
together that would make your old English teacher snap her chalk in two.)

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Do Be Me
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In contemporary speech, you would certainly attract some attention if you put he
words do and did in front of your verbs. But, this is exactly what you want to do to sound like an authentic Elizabethan.

I swear by my chastity, if you do sing again, I do fear madness will befall us all!

Aye, we did speak of the matter you wot (know) of.

You may also add the word me after first person verbs:
I will sit me down awhile and have me a mead.
Likewise, you may add you or thee to requests and commands:
Do drink thee an ale with me, cousin!
Pray, sit you down, good gentles. (Remember, you was used to address
superiors or to convey politeness to strangers.)

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Past Tense of the Past
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Elizabethans placed did before verbs to indicate past tense as well as they
used ed and altering the spelling of some words. For example:
To change speak to the past tense: did speak; spoke; spake
Theres More

Most Elizabethans formed the plural of a word simply by adding the letter s, just as we do today. However, some, especially peasants and rustic types, used n to pluralize some words. So the plural of house may become housen rather than houses; shoen rather than shoes. Today, we may refer to stockings as we know them as hose, but to the Elizabethans, a singular stocking was a hose and a pair was called hosen. A singular pea (the vegetable) was called a pease, while multiple peas were referred to as peasen. It is interesting to note that come of these pluralized words still live in our vocabulary today, such as children, brethren and oxen.

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Dont.erDo Not Contract!
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You will sound much more authentic if you avoid common contractions so
commonly used in speech today. So

Instead of dont, say do not
Instead of arent, say are not
Instead of cant, say can not
Instead of its, say, it is
Instead of isnt, say is not

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Negatives and Superlatives
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Negatives are words that indicate a negative consequence, usually indicated by the use of no or not. Superlatives illustrate comparison with words such as
more, most, better, best, etc.

Elizabethans loved using negatives and superlatives. In fact, they loved to use
double negatives and double superlatives as in these examples:

He did not drink no mead.
We do not have no peasen.

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Forms and Titles of Address, Greetings and Farewells
Hello and Goodbye, Elizabethan Style
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Elizabethans did not greet each other with Hey, how ya doing? or Hi there! as we do today. Instead, they used short, concise forms of greeting each other that were suitable for any class or social ranking.

Good Morning Good morrow; Give you good morrow.
Good day Good day; Good den; God give you a good day.
Good afternoon or evening Good even; Good een.
Nice to see you! Well met!
How are you? How now?

After greeting someone and exchanging your views of the world and discussing the price of onions or your ailing cow, and you decide that its time to move on, consider using one of these phrases to take your leave:

Fare thee well
Fare you well
God save you
God keep you
I shall see you anon (soon)

Now, while the above greetings and farewells are perhaps suitable for anyone, there will be titles that youll want to either preface or follow these phrases with according to the specific person you are addressing.

Elizabethans were keenly aware of their social status and, especially, that of others. They were also very polite (generally).

When addressing a person, you should consider their social status (usually
assessed by their attire), their sex, their age and, when the occasion arises, their occupation.

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For Men
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Royalty - The title Sire is used to address a king. Naturally, Elizabeth would take offense at being mistaken for a king, but you should know to use this title should you be visiting foreign lands.

Nobility - This would include officials of the court, Church bishops and otherwise all men of wealth and prominence: my lord; my good lord; your worship, your grace, noble sir, good gentles (when addressing a group).

Middle Class This would include peasants, farmers, craftsmen and
merchants: sir; good sir; Master or Goodman. When addressing men by their
occupation*, it is appropriate to refer to them as such in this way: Master
Swordsman, Master Brewer, etc. The term cousin used between two men would indicate a comfortable level of familiarity between them.

An elderly man of the working class may be referred to as Father or Gaffer.
If you wish to insult a man, then address him as Fellow. If you really want to
goad his ire, then call him Sirrah! (This title carries the connotation that the
modern usage of wench does, implying ersomeone of definite lowly status.

However, as you will soon learn, the term wench used in Elizabethan times was perfectly appropriate and done without intending to insult the good lady.)

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For Women
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Royalty The Queen shall be addressed as Your Majesty; Your Grace; Your
Highness or Your Most Gracious Majesty.

Nobility This would include ladies of the court and wives of noblemen and the proper form of address is my lady; noble lady; good my lady; noble madam; good gentle or good gentles (if theres more than one). If in doubt as to the status of a woman, always refer to her as my lady, especially if her attire indicates that this is appropriate.

Working Class Generally, mistress or Goodwife would be used. The term
wench refers to a serving woman (a tavern maid, a laborer, etc.) and is a
perfectly acceptable form of address.

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For Children
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My lad/My lass
My good lad/My good lass
My good young sir/My good young mistress
My young lord/My young lady

* It is interesting to note that those who held certain occupations were almost always addressed as such, i.e., Good day, your Officer, Well met, your Honor. We still do this today for judges, police officers, doctors and professors. The exception to this rule today, as in Elizabethan times, is for barristers or lawyers. Ill leave you to draw your
own conclusions from that.

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Vocabulary
Yes and No
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It doesnt get easier than this, folks!
Instead of yes, say aye (rhymes with eye), or yea (rhymes with day)
Instead of no, say nay (rhymes with day)

Here are some other basic phrases and words that will come in handy:

Okay = Good; Good now
I think = Methinks; I think me; I trow (believe)
Do ya know? = Trow you; Know you; Knowest thou
If = An it please you (An is an old form of if)
Thank You = Grant you mercy; God grant you mercy; Gramercy; Grammarcy;
God yield; Many good thanks
Hello, nice to see you! = Hail and well met!
How are you? = How now?
Goodbye, I gotta go! = Fare thee well; I must away!
Ill see you later. = I shall see you anon.
Often = Oft
Maybe = Mayhap; Perchance; Belike; Peradventure
Why = Wherefore
Excuse me = Pray pardon; I cry you mercy
Honestly, Really = Forsooth; In sooth; In good sooth; By my troth; In troth (troth
and sooth means truth); Verily; Indeed; Surely; Marry (By Saint Mary this is
true); I vouchsafe (I declare this is true)
Wow! Cool! = Marry! Now by my faith!
Too bad/Oh, no! = God-a-mercy! Alas! Well a day
Dang! Darn it! = Alack! Alas! Fie! Fie me! Out upon it!
No kidding? Go on! No way! Get out of here! = Go to! For sooth? In sooth?
Is it even so?
What time is it? = How stand the hour?
It is twelve oclock = It is twelve o the clock (to mean of the clock)
Very = Verily
I'm thirsty. = I be parched.
Enough! = Enow!
What is your name? = What be thy tide?

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Loving and Loathing
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Swearing, cursing, insulting and indulging in flattery - this is the good stuff!
Swearing, in Elizabethan terms, does not mean thrusting four-letter words at
your enemies. It means to swear or to make an oath in order to lend credence to ones statements or to stress their meaning. Men and women swear differently and draw upon different resources to do so, whether it is a religious reference, womanly or manly characteristics, or vital tools of the trade. Whatever was sworn upon was considered sacred and pure to the person swearing upon it. The use of oaths, or swearing, was always preceded by By my or By this or Upon my or what have you. For instance, a man might proclaim: By my sword, the Queens throne I shall defend!, etc.

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Swearing for Men
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By Gods teeth
By Gods death (referring to Christ on the cross)
By my honor
By my tankard
Upon this sword
Upon my bravery
By my plough and horse
By my hammer and tongs

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Swearing for Women
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Women werent concerned with declaring oaths as much as men, but they did
swear at times
Upon my honor
Upon my modesty
By my chastity
By my spinning wheel
By my needles
By my maidenhead
You can really have some fun with swearing! For instance, if you reference a
characteristic or object that you are obviously lacking, your oath takes on a
comical meaning. For instance, if a bawdy-type tavern wench were to say, By
my maidenhead, that would surely trigger a chuckle. The same thing goes for a rogue swearing upon a beard or sword (or honor!) that he doesnt possess.

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Flattery Will Get You Everywhere
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Ahthe language of love and affection. The Elizabethans were big on pleasant words that fell softy upon thy ear and upon thy heart. To have women (or men) swooning before you, try to fill your flattery with bold images of celestial and mythological beings. Make a lot of impossible promises too, something along the lines of vowing to give the object of your affection the moon on a silver platter.

The most common forms of endearments used by Elizabethans include, my
darling, my sweet, my dear, my love, sweetheart and sweetest. Words like:

babe, baby, honey, beefcakes and sugar pie hadnt hit the newsstands yet.

Some Shakespearean examples of flattery:

O [my lady], goddess, nymph, perfect, divine!
So sweet a kiss the golden sun gives not
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear.
Run through fire, I would, for thy sweet sake!

It was also very commonplace to borrow from the Bible and mythology as in
these examples:

Wiser than Solomon art thou.
Surely, thou hast the strength of Samson.
Like Esther could she sway a king.
Come to me, my Apollo.
Thy beauty does outbrag een Aphrodite.

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Curses and Insults
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You scullion! You hollow-eyed wretch! Thou art a plague-sore!

The Elizabethans appreciated and admired a sharp wit and tongue and, by
comparison, they make todays standards of cursing pretty dull. While we may
only have a list of four-letter words from which to choose, the Elizabethans had a huge arsenal of verbal assaults from which to draw.

bawdy bat - fowling baggage
beslubbering beef-witted barnacle
bootless beetle-headed bladder
churlish boil-brained boar-pig
cockered clapper-clawed bugbear
clouted clay-brained bum-bailey
craven common-kissing canker-blossom
currish crook-pated clack-dish
dankish dismal-dreaming clotpole
dissembling dizzy-eyed coxcomb
droning doghearted codpiece
errant dread-bolted death-token
fawning earth-vexing dewberry
fobbing elf-skinned flap-dragon
froward fat-kidneyed flax-wench
frothy fen-sucked flirt-gill
gleeking flap-mouthed foot-licker
goatish fly-bitten fustilarian
gorbellied folly-fallen giglet
impertinent fool-born gudgeon
infectious full-gorged haggard
jarring guts-griping harpy
loggerheaded half-faced hedge-pig
lumpish hasty-witted horn-beast
mammering hedge-born hugger-mugger
mangled hell-hated jolthead
mewling idle-headed lewdster
paunchy ill-breeding lout
pribbling ill-nurtured maggot-pie
puking knotty-pated malt-worm
puny milk-livered mammet
quailing motley-minded measle
rank onion-eyed minnow
reeky plume-plucked miscreant
roguish pottle-deep moldwarp
ruttish pox-marked mumble-news
saucy reeling-ripe nut-hook
spleeny rough-hewn pigeon-egg
spongy rude-growing pignut
surly rump-fed puttock
tottering shard-borne pumpion
unmuzzled sheep-biting ratsbane
vain spur-galled scut
venomed swag-bellied skainsmate
villainous tardy-gaited strumpet
warped tickle-brained varlet
wayward toad-spotted vassal
weedy urchin-snouted whey-face
yeasty weather-bitten wagtail

Its also extremely rewarding and effective to use alliteration that is to string
together repetitive sounds by using three or more insults that begin with the
same letter. Heres a meaty example: Thou motley-minded, milk-livered,
mewling maggot-pie! Be creative.

Youll notice that use of the f word is not mentioned here (which, incidentally, is
derived from Fortification Under Command of the King an edict that decreed
that the King (or a noble in his place) had the right to bed with a new bride on her wedding night to ensure that the population always contained English blood).
While those of the peasantry would sometimes utter this word, the more
sophisticated types certainly the nobles - would use the word swive instead.
Generally, it was not the intent of Elizabethans to be vulgar, but to be as bawdy
as possible without becoming obscene.

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Stepping in (and out) of Character
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If you really want to embrace the Renaissance experience fully, then
characterization is everything. Whether youre a fair worker/player, a vendor, or
a guest of the fair looking for caper and outsport, you will enjoy the interaction
with the other folks much more if your speech is linked to your character.

For instance, if youre playing a rustic type, like a farmer, a shepherd, a pirate or
just a run-in-the-mill peasant laborer, then youll really want to pull the lead out.
Speak with an exaggerated accent and use bold grammar and syntax. Employ
the word do before your verbs and replace am and were with be.

If you are portraying a middle-class person, such as a merchant, craftsmen,
land- owner or soldier, then youll want to soften your speech somewhat and
include plenty of classical or Biblical overtones. Its appropriate to insert do
before verbs, but avoid using be in place of am and were.

If you are portraying a member of the nobility, then youll need to be even more
temperate in your use of grammar and syntax. Take a genteel approach to
everything your walk, your tone of speech (especially when it comes to
swearing and cursing) and use lots of classical references to round out your
speech.

Are you playing the role of a foreign dignitary? If so, a good dictionary relevant
to the language of your country would come in handy. Keep in mind too that
most learned folk of the time, whether English or from a foreign land, studied
Spanish, Dutch, German and Latin and often sprinkled their speech with
international phrases and references appropriate to the time. Of course, youll
also need to become familiar with the native accent of your country of origin.

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A. Words to Live By
Words that describe people:
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ale-knight a drunkard
amorous a lover
astrologaster false astrologer
bare-bone skinny person
bawcock a fine lusty man
bed-presser a lazy person
chatmate close friend
cousin (or coz') a close friend
cutpurse a pickpocket, a thief
doxy a beggar's wench
drayer cart driver
flibbertigibbet gossip
groom male servant
gull a fool
jack-an-apes ape-ish person
knave a lowly male servant
layabout a azy person
lightskirt an "easy" woman
maiden (maid) a virgin
mercer dealer in textiles
monger peddler
mountebank a quack
ploughman a farmer
rogue rascal
scold argumentative person
smith a metal worker
swag big blustering mantoss-pot a drunkard
trencherman a hearty eater

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Objects and Places
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ague cold or fever
bane cause of death
Bedlam madness or madhouse
beggary meanness
heigh-ho expression of joy
here-approach arrival
hodge-pudding put together from many things
hurly-burly commotion
issue product, outcome, result
jakes toilet
jest prank, joke
knavery roguish tricks
lading cargo
leaping house brothel
leechcraft the healing arts
mirth merriment
nunnery brothel
ort scrap of food
pennyworth a small amount
physic medicine

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Actions
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avaunt begone!
befall become of
befortune happen to
beslubber smear
bespeak speak to
caper to frisk about
carouse make merry
cozen cheat
gripe grasp with pain
hearken listen or seek
outbrag surpass in virtue
outbrave surpass in valor
outsleep over sleep
outsport revel more than
smite strike

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Descriptives
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afore before or in front of
agone ago
annoyous annoying
anywhen at any timea-pieces in pieces
base lowly born
baubling trifling
beauteous beautiful
beef-witted brainless as an ox
beetle-headed stupid
bemaddening maddening
cupshot drunk
daft stupid
enow enough
ere before
good-faced good looking
great-bellied pregnant
quick alive
knotty-pated thick-headed
lean-witted a bit on the dull side
meet proper
melancholy depressed
merry funny, pleasant
milky weak
onion-eyed weepy
otherwhere elsewhere
perforce by force
pigeon-livered meek
pitchy very dark
prating babbling
shamefaced ashamed
uglisome ugly
uttermost farthest
wherefore why
whither to whatever place, where

updated by @catarina-daragon: 06 Oct 2016 06:27:31AM