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Tudor Dialect Exercises
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Exercise 4 of 13:
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MAN 1:
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How now, cousin! Ho, what be this on
thy chin? Marry, thou shouldst not go so
long between face washings, sirrah. |
MAN 2: |
Zounds! 'Tis not dirt! 'Tis the
beginnings of a courtly pickadevant. |
MAN 1:
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Ha! A pickadevant, sayest thou? Why.
the Queen hath more chin-hairs than that, I
warrant thee! (LEANS IN) God shave the
Queen! |
MAN 2: |
Tush, I have only just begun it! One
cannot expect it to blossom overnight. |
MAN 1:
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Nay, not overnight, to be sure. But
I daresay that I have seen that self-same
down upon thy chin for a fortnight! |
MAN 2: |
Be soft, my friend! 'Twas but a
jest! |
MAN 1:
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"Be soft," quoth he, "'Twas but a
jest!" I do not take kindly to such
injurious jesting, sirrah. |
MAN 2: |
So I see. Perhaps thou shouldst
visit a barber, anon. |
MAN 1:
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How, a barber! |
MAN 2: |
Aye. Have thy crown shaven, so that
the weight of thy hair cannot keep thy beard
pulled in! |
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Vocabulary Used:
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Tudor Word |
Modern Translation |
How now, cousin! |
Familiar Greeting
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Zounds |
God's Wounds (an oath)
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Pickadevant |
pointed beard or Goatee |
Blood |
God's blood (an oath) |
Anon |
Presently
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Tush
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A blasphemous oath
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Quoth
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Said
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Would
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I wish
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Injurious
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Insulting
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Be Soft
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Calm Down
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