12 Misunderstood and Misquoted Shakespearean Expressions

12 Misunderstood and Misquoted Shakespearean Expressions 12 Misunderstood and Misquoted Shakespearean Expressions 12 Misunderstood and Misquoted Shakespearean Expressions By Mark Nichol The plays of William Shakespeare provide a wealth of pithy sayings many of which he likely popularized rather than produced himself, though we may still be grateful to him for sharing them. Unfortunately, sometimes the original sense is adulterated by careless usage, so that the eloquent force of the expression is weakened. Here are a dozen of Shakespeare’s phrases with comments about their original wording and meaning: 1. â€Å"At one fell swoop† This phrase from Macduff’s grief-stricken lamentation about the murder of his family in Macbeth uses the archaic word fell, meaning â€Å"fierce,† to extend the metaphor of the perpetrator (who he calls a â€Å"hell-kite†) as a bird of prey. Modern usage is generally more casual and even comical. 2. â€Å"Brave new world† This phrase from a speech by Miranda, daughter of the wizard Prospero in The Tempest, naively uses brave in the sense of â€Å"handsome† when she first lays eyes on other men. The subtext in Shakespeare is that those she refers to are superficially attractive but substantially deficient in character. The sense is the same in the phrase as it appears in the title of Aldous Huxley’s dystopian classic. Unfortunately, the dark sarcasm is being dulled by use of the phrase to blithely herald a bright future. 3. â€Å"Foregone conclusion† From Othello, this phrase means literally something that has already occurred (it has â€Å"gone before†); now, the phrase often refers to a conjectural event. 4. â€Å"Gild the lily† This misquotation from King John, which actually reads, â€Å"To gild refined gold, to paint the lily . . . is wasteful and ridiculous excess,† confuses the metaphor, because lilies are white, not gold. 5. â€Å"Lead on, Macduff† This misquotation from Macbeth, in which the title character baits his nemesis to attack him by saying, â€Å"Lay on, Macduff,† is now a variation of â€Å"After you† quite a diversion from the original intent. 6. â€Å"The milk of human kindness† This metaphor, employed in the service of a heartwarming connotation, would rouse the wrath of Lady Macbeth, whose reference to the virtue in the play named for her husband was contemptuous. 7. â€Å"More honored in the breach than the observance† This phrase from Hamlet has been twisted by time to mean an admirable custom that is neglected more often practiced. Shakespeare’s sense was of a deplorable custom that should be halted. The expression immediately follows another well-known but oft-misunderstood phrase: Hamlet refers to himself as one â€Å"to the manner born,† meaning â€Å"brought up to follow the custom,† but some people believe the phrase, when expressed out of context, to be â€Å"to the manor born,† referring to one raised in the opulent surroundings of a manor house. 8. â€Å"Neither rhyme nor reason† The modern focus is on the second element of this phrase from The Comedy of Errors, but the intent is to express a lack both of sense and of eloquence. 9. â€Å"Sea change† This expression from The Tempest refers to a deadly shift in weather, but now the sense of peril has been replaced by a connotation of significant transformation. 10. â€Å"Third degree† Shakespeare’s humorous reference in Twelfth Night to someone â€Å"in the third degree of drink† harks to the principle of degrees in natural philosophy, which assigns the third degree to the penultimate level of intensity. The modern sense is of merciless interrogation, though it’s usually employed in a lighthearted tone. 11. â€Å"What the dickens† Some of those unfamiliar with the origin of this expression The Merry Wives of Windsor assume it has a Victorian provenance and refers to Charles Dickens. But dickens is an Elizabethan euphemism for the devil, and Shakespeare employs it as an oath. 12. â€Å"The worlds mine oyster† The usual assumption is that one can easily lay the world wide open and extract its contents. But the boast in The Merry Wives of Windsor goes on to say, â€Å"Which I with sword will open,† expressing the partaker’s more active and more violent role. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Passed vs PastThe Four Sounds of the Spelling OU45 Idioms with "Roll"

Requirements Engineering Essay Example

Requirements Engineering Essay Example Requirements Engineering Essay Requirements Engineering Essay Pressman, Mc-Graw Objects, Components and Frameworks with UML, D. DSouza, A. Wills, Addison-Wesley, 1999 Winter Term 2010/11 Slide 3 Sven Apel Software Engineering Roadmap Requirements-engineering process Use cases Functional and non-functional requirements Requirements checking and reviews Roles in requirements engineering Slide 4 Zeitschema Kommission: Bitte ankreuzen wo Sie keinenfalls mitmachen k? ¶nnen, und senden Sie das ausgef?llte Formular bis 7 8:00 9:00 10:oo ll:oo 12:00 ans Dekanat zur?ck. 4:00 1 5:00 16:00 17:00 Jan 2002 1011 12131415161718192021 22232425262728293031 Feb 2002 56 13:00 18:00 Bemerkungen: Unterschrift: Slide 5 Electronic Time Schedule So, basically we need a form for the time schedule that can be distributed by e-mail, a place (html) where I can deposit these forms after they have been filled out, and an algorithm that calculates a few possible meeting times, possibly setting priorities to certain persons of each committee (since there will always be some time schedule overlaps). It would also be great if there were a way of checking whether everybody of the relevant committee has really sent their time schedule back and at the same time isting all the ones who have failed to do so. An automatic invitation letter for the committee meeting to all the persons involved, generated through this program, would be even a further asset. How can we transform this description into a requirements specification? Winter Term 2010/11 Slide 6 The Requirements-Engineering Process Ian Sommerville 2000 Slide 7 Requirements-Engineering Activities Feasibility study Requirements elicitation analysis Determine if the user needs can be satisfied with the available technology and budget. Find out what system stakeholders require trom he system. specification Define the requirements in a form understandable to the customer and as a contract between client and contractor. validation Check the requirements for realism, consistency, and completeness. Requirements are for users; specifications are for analysts and developers. Slide 8 Requirements Elicitation Analysis Sometimes called requirements discovery Technical staff work with customers to determine 0 the application domain, 0 the services that the system should provide and 0 the systems operational constraints. Involves various stakeholders: 0 e. g. end-users, managers, engineers involved in maintenance, domain experts, trade unions, etc. Slide 9 Problems ot Requirements Analysis Various problems typically arise: Stakeholders dont know what they really want 0 Stakeholders express requirements in their own terms 0 Different stakeholders may have conflicting requirements 0 Organisational and political factors may influence the system requirements 0 The requirements change during the analysis process. 0 New stakeholders may emerge. Slide 10 How the Customer explained it How the Project Leader understood it How the Analyst designed it What the Customer really needed Slide 11 Requirements Evolution Requirements always evolve as a better understanding of user needs is developed and as the organisations objectives change It is essential to plan for change in the requirements as the system is being developed and used Slide 12 Requirements Analysis, Specification, and Validation O Ian Sommerville 2000 Slide 13 Slide 14 Sottware Engineering Use Cases and Scenarios A use case is the specification of a sequence of actions, including variants, that a system (or other entity) can perform, interacting with actors of the system. g. , buy a DVD through the Internet A scenario is a particular trace of action occurrences, starting from a known initial state. e. g. , connect to myDVD. com, go to the search page Slide 15 Unified Modeling Language UML is the industry standard for documenting object-oriented models Class Diagrams visualize logical structure of system in terms of classes, objects, and relationships Use Case Diagrams show external actors and use cases they participate in Sequence Diagrams visualize temporal message ordering of a concrete scenario of a use case Collaboration (Communication) Diagrams State Diagrams visualize relationships of objects exchanging messages in a concrete scenario specify the abstract states of an object and the transitions between the states Slide 16 More on this later Slide 17 Slide 18 Writing Requirements Definitions Requirements definitions usually consist of natural language, supplemented by (e. g. , UML) diagrams and tables. Three types of problems can arise: 0 Lack of clarity: It is hard to write documents that are both precise and easy-to-read. 0 Requirements confusion: Functional and non-functional requirements tend to be inte Requirements amalgamation: Several different requirements may be expressed together. Slide 19 Prototyping The objective of evolutionary prototyping is to deliver a working system to end-users. Must be used for systems where the specification cannot be developed in advance. 0 Development starts with the requirements that are best understood. The objective of throw-away prototyping is to validate or derive the system requirements. The prototype is developed from an initial specification, delivered for experiment then discarded 0 Prototyping starts with that requirements that are poorly understood. Slide 20

Christian Perspectives on Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicides Research Paper

Christian Perspectives on Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicides - Research Paper Example Since then, the ethics of the practice has evolved, and so have the reasons for proscription. Nowadays, the proscription is based more upon practical concerns then scriptural ones – concerns such as the introduction of a slippery slope; the possibility that the person might be cured and miss his or her chance for this cure; and the need to create a culture of life that values everybody in society, even the infirm and terminally ill. Still, the belief remains that God has sovereignty over life and death, and man cannot usurp this. St. Thomas Aquinas was one of the first religious figures to advocate this, and the traditional Christian proscription for the practice has been based upon this ever since. Although some individual Christians may take issue with the official church teachings on the subject, for a variety of reasons, in the end the practice should be banned because of the practical concerns listed above. Discussion According to Fontana (2002), there have been a variety of traditions throughout the ages concerning the ethics of euthanasia. For instance, in Ancient Greece, Hemlock, a common poison, was made available for individuals who desired a â€Å"good death,† after an appeal to a tribunal. In fact, ending one’s life was a festive occasion for the elderly and the infirm, as they drank ceremonial poison at a banquet that honored their lives. It was similar in ancient Rome (Fontana, 2002, p. 147). Of course, these practices were prior to Christianity, and the advent of Christianity caused these euthanasia practices to be outlawed (Fontana, 2002, p. 147). In particular, St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine declared such practice a great sin. However, an increase in secularism during the Renaissance period and Enlightenment in the 18th Century caused a resurgence of Greco-Roman beliefs regarding the practice, and this greater tolerance continued into the 19th Century when social philosophers advocated for the practice. However, even though there was great tolerance for the practice, it was not entirely accepted as it was in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, because the church still had some sway, and, as the church believed the practice to be sinful, this had some impact on society and the laws regarding euthanasia even during the Renaissance and Enlightenment (Fontana, 2002, p. 147). Euthanasia may be either involuntary or voluntary. Involuntary euthanasia occurs when there is brain death or the person is otherwise incapacitated. In that case, especially if there is some kind of directive from the person, in that he or she signed a living will or a â€Å"Do Not Resuscitate† order, then that person will be allowed to die. Voluntary euthanasia, however, is more active and involved, therefore more controversial. Voluntary euthanasia is when an individual who is of clear mind chooses to end his or her life with assistance (Nayernouri, 2011, p. 54). Nayernouri (2011) further delineates the practice of euthana sia from suicide. As she explains, suicide is an act that one takes by oneself, without assistance, and this is not as controversial as euthanasia as the act of suicide is presumably one’s right, although the world’s religions, including Christianity, Islam and Judaism view this act to be one of great sin (Nayernouri, 2011, p. 54). The secular rationale against euthanasia are that the patient may be treated therapeutically for depression or pain, which are the major reasons why individuals choose euthanasia. It is for this reason that the American Medical Association (AMA) has come out against the practice. The AMA’s stance on euthanasia is inconsistent with its other stances which conflict with the traditional pro-life views regarding abortion and