Breaking away from words that look like you know them, here’s something different.

russet (adj.) IPA Pronunciation:
a yellow or reddish light brown

HORATIO
…But look, the morn, in russet mantle clad,
Walks o’er the dew of yon high eastward hill.

- Hamlet (I.i)

Horatio sure knows how to turn a phrase. He could have just said “look at that pretty sunrise”, though this is a tad better. You want to talk about painting a picture with words? This is a good example of just that.

Continuing with the theme of words that are spelled and pronounced the same as modern words but have different meanings, I give you -

approve (v.) IPA Pronunciation:
try, prove, put to the test

CORNELIUS
I left out one thing which the queen confess’d.
Which must approve thee honest…

- Cymbeline (V.v)

I really like this word. There is a certain weight it carries with the sounds that are used: the push of the P, followed by the ooo of the U and the smooth V. And you’re not just proving something, you are a-proving it. Like it’s more than just finding a reference for what you’ve just said… you need to put it to the test with some action. Kind of like this…

“I know Kung Fu.”
“…. Show me.”

Here’s a fun word. There’s nothing like odd names for body parts that you don’t really care about.

dewlap (n.) IPA Pronunciation: /`d(j)ulæp/
folds of loose skin around the neck

PUCK
And when she drinks, against her lips I bob
And on her wither’d dewlap pour the ale.
-A Midsummer Night’s Dream (II.i)

It’s a lovely image that comes to mind, isn’t it? Which is a great tool to use in good storytelling. This is the sort of verbal image that Shakespeare provides to guide the artist onstage to “paint a picture with words”. Awesome, dude.

It’s hip to be a square! But not this kind. This isn’t a geometric shape, but maybe a way to get your nose into a different shape.

square (v.) IPA Pronunciation: /skwer/
to quarrel, fight

PUCK
But, they do square, that all their elves for fear
Creep into acorn-cups and hide them there.

- A Midsummer Night’s Dream (II.i)

This is another word that is pronounced and spelled the same way as a word you are familiar with (just like the previous WOTD), but this meaning wouldn’t be immediately known to you just by seeing or hearing it. Hopefully in the play you are watching the actor will be a good storyteller and let you in on what the Puck he’s talking about.

This is one of this words that will make sense when used in context. But by itself it’s one of those words that make you think “WTF mate?” It is pronounced just like the word with the same spelling that means “joined together”, which could possibly add to the confusion.

union (n.) IPA Pronunciation:
pearl

CLAUDIUS
And in the cup an union shall he throw,
Richer than that which four successive kings
In Denmark’s crown have worn….

- HAMLET (V.ii)

Again, in context, when you’re seeing a production of Hamlet and Claudius is holding a pearl saying this, the logical conclusion you’ll make is “Ah, union must be a pearl”, OR “I don’t know what the heck he just called that, but it’s a pearl…”

No, not the past tense of “eat”. That would be a silly thing to write about. Not that food doesn’t deserve to be written about, but I think you all know what food is and what it’s for.

ate (n.) IPA Pronunciation:
an ancient Greek goddess personifying the fatal blindness or recklessness that produces crime and the divine punishment that follows it.

ANTONY
…And Caesar’s spirit, ranging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice
Cry ‘Havoc,’ and let slip the dogs of war;

- Julius Caesar (III.i)

I love that line! Talk about violent words and thoughts. Totally bad-ass.

I was trying for a while to make a clever quip in iambic pentameter using the following word, but it’s rather late (or very early) and nothing betid. Please accept my most humble apologies.

betide (v.) IPA pronunciation: /bI‘taId/
happen, take place, befall

SCROOP
More health and happiness betide my liege
Than can my care-tun’d tongue deliver him.

- Richard II (III.ii)

Betid would most obviously be past tense of betide. Something somewhat clever came out afterall. Who’da thunk?

Not Happily. Haply!

haply (adv.) IPA pronunciation: /’hæp.li/
perhaps, maybe, by chance, with luck

CORDELIA
…Haply, when I shall wed,
That lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry
Half my love with him, half my care and duty.
-King Lear (I.i)

Often when people come across this word the think it is “happily” contracted. NO! This “hap” is related to the hap in perhaps. If you read it as “happily” then the meaning can be completely different.

NOW YOU KNOW