The Weekday Ramble is a daily dose of sports, music, culture, and more from Rambling On founder Erik Ritland. For more information check us out on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, or at our website.
Monday August 17, 2015
Honoring the Bard by mixing two of our popular Weekday Ramble features, #FunFacts and Quote/Picture/Video (#QPV). Essentially, it's just a few facts followed by a video. Ya'all know what Shakespeare looked like.
The original man of words
Shakespeare is credited with adding over 3,000 words to the English language. Accused, addicted, advertising, amazement, arouse, and assassination are among them – and that's only part of the list in the letter 'a.'
Best. Job. Ever.
John Shakespeare, William's father, held a variety of jobs. One of them? The official Ale Taster of Stratford-on-Avon. That's right, he got paid to drink beer. I suppose that was sort of dangerous with all the bacteria floating around back then, but I'd still take it.
Step off, punk
It took years of acting and writing for Shakespeare's career to take off. In a 1592 magazine London playwright Robert Greene took some jabs at him, insinuating that he was too young and unaccomplished to try the serious writing that he was already attempting. Little did Greene know that he'd be a footnote in history while the young punk would add over 3,000 words to the English language.
Blackadder 1, Shakespeare 0
Rowan Atkinson is known in America mostly for his roles as Mr. Bean and Enrico Pollini in Rat Race. He's only fully appreciated in England, where his satirical historical comedy Blackadder showed his versatility. This scene comes from the one-off Blackadder special Back and Forth. I think most schoolkids would be firmly on Blackadder's side.
Sources
http://www.ibtimes.com/william-shakespeares-birthday-20-interesting-facts-about-life-plays-bard-1892531
http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-william-shakespeare
http://www.biography.com/people/william-shakespeare-9480323#establishing-himself
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/wordsinvented.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0250687/fullcredits/
Erik Ritland is a writer and musician from St. Paul, Minnesota. His blog and podcast Rambling On features commentary on music, sports, culture, and more. He was also Lead Staff Writer for Minnesota culture blog Curious North. Support Erik's music via his Patreon account, reach him via email, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
Sources
http://www.ibtimes.com/william-shakespeares-birthday-20-interesting-facts-about-life-plays-bard-1892531
http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-william-shakespeare
http://www.biography.com/people/william-shakespeare-9480323#establishing-himself
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/wordsinvented.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0250687/fullcredits/
Erik Ritland is a writer and musician from St. Paul, Minnesota. His blog and podcast Rambling On features commentary on music, sports, culture, and more. He was also Lead Staff Writer for Minnesota culture blog Curious North. Support Erik's music via his Patreon account, reach him via email, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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