Writers & wordsmiths

William Shakespeare

ENGLISH 1564-1616

Although his inclusion here might seem like a foregone conclusion, the Bard’s enormous impact on the English language is obvious not just in famous quotes like “to be or not to be”, but also in the many phrases he coined that we now consider commonplace, such as ‘lily-livered’, ‘bated breath’ and, indeed, ‘foregone conclusion’. But his influence is greater still. As the creator of an estimated 2,000 words, including ‘amazement’, ‘bedroom’, and ‘fashionable’, it’s impossible to imagine what English would be like without him. His ‘monumental’