76 ride i.e. like a horse, but also with sexual connotations
77 boots booty, plunder (the Chamberlain plays on the sense of “footwear”; there is also a quibble on the sense of “vagina”)
79 hold…way keep you dry on a muddy road/piss herself
80 liquored oiled (to make waterproof)/plied with alcohol
81 as…castle i.e. in complete safety
cocksure completely secure
receipt of fern-seed recipe for fern seed (supposed to confer invisibility)
86 true honest
88 Homo Latin for “man”
pupil age youthful time (i.e. the present)
common name to general name for
89 muddy muddled, dull-witted (plays on the sense of “dirty”)
2 frets…velvet fusses or, literally, frays like cheap velvet stiffened with gum
3 close concealed
5 fat-kidneyed i.e. fat-bellied
rascal may play on the sense of “young or inferior deer,” a creature Falstaff is frequently compared to)
6 keep make, keep up
12 by the square exactly
square a measuring instrument
13 break my wind lose my breath (plays on the sense of “fart”
Well…rogue I expect to die well despite everything, as long as I’m not hanged for killing Poins
17 medicines potions
19 ere before
20 An if
21 turn true man reform, become honest/become an informer
veriest varlet most complete rogue
26 Whew! Expression of alarm or perhaps Falstaff trying to whistle
33 exchequer treasury
colt cheat
35 uncolted without a horse
36 to i.e. to find, but the prince takes him to mean “to mount”
39 heir-apparent garters jokes on the fact that as heir apparent, the prince belonged to the knightly Order of the Garter
40 peach turn informer, betray (my accomplices
ballads…all songs made up about you
41 filthy disgraceful, obscene
42 forward far advanced/presumptuous, immodest
afoot when the robbery plot is under way/when I am on foot
45 setter one who plans robberies
47 Case ye mask yourselves
51 make us all make our fortunes
53 front confront
54 lower further down
55 light on come upon
56 be are there
60 Gaunt plays on the literal sense of “thin” (though actually the name was a form of “Ghent”)
62 proof test
68 hard near
69 happy…dole may good fortune be every man’s lot
76 whoreson caterpillars bastard parasites
whoreson son of a whore
bacon-fed fat, well-fed
77 youth youngsters
78 undone ruined
79 gorbellied big-bellied
80 chuffs clowns/ misers
store savings, full possessions
bacons pigs
81 grand-jurors wealthy men, eligible to sit on a jury
82 jure judge, see to/make a juror of
85 argument a topic of conversation
88 my masters sirs
89 arrant absolute
90 equity stirring judgment in the world
91 wild duck i.e. easily frightened
99 lards drips fat on
solus alone
3 house family (Hotspur goes on to play on the literal meaning, contrasting it with barn)
10 uncertain unreliable
11 unsorted unsuitable
12 counterpoise counterbalance
13 hind peasant/menial/nervous female deer
14 lack-brain idiot
protest declare, affirm
16 expectation promise
18 lord of York the Archbishop of York, Richard Scroop
20 brain… fan knock his brains out with a lady’s fan—light and suitable for one with little brain
22 the Douglas Archibald, Earl of Douglas; the signifies the head of a Scottish clan
26 in…of i.e. really motivated by
28 go to buffets come to blows (with myself
moving trying to persuade
dish…milk i.e. weak, cowardly one
29 action course of action/military enterprise/rhetorical gesture/division in a logical argument
30 prepared drawn up for military action
37 stomach appetite
41 treasures…rights treasured intimacy and wifely rights
42 thick-eyed dull-sighted, preoccupied/heavy-lidded (from lack of sleep)
43 faint light, restless
watched remained awake
45 terms of manage words of control
47 sallies and retires advances and retreats
48 palisadoes defensive fortifications
49 basilisks large cannon (named after a mythical reptile
culverin another type of large cannon
56 motions movements, expressions/emotions
57 restrain hold/catch
59 heavy important, weighty
61 What, ho! summons to servant
62 Gilliams name of another servant
packet packet of letters, dispatch
64 Butler another servant
65 even just
66 roan with a coat of mixed color
crop-ear with the top of the ears cropped
69 back mount
straight straightaway
Esperance! Hope! (the Percy family motto was “Esperance ma comforte,” French for “In hope is my strength/ consolation”)
73 carries you away transports you with emotion
76 weasel a notoriously aggressive animal (Hotspur responds literally
spleen anger, impulsiveness
79 stir become roused, rebellious
80 title claim to the throne
81 line support
83 paraquito little parrot
85 little finger phallic connotations
88 trifler frivolous time-waster
90 mammets dolls, perhaps with play on Latin mamma (“breasts”
tilt joust
91 crowns heads (plays on the sense of “coins” as well as having royal connotations)
92 pass them current pass them off as good currency
God’s me God save me
102 whereabout speculate why
106 Constant faithful, trustworthy
108 closer more tight-lipped
116 force necessity
1 fat stuffy (possibly “vat”
lend…hand help me
4 loggerheads blockheads, idiots
three or fourscore sixty or eighty (a score is twenty)
5 hogsheads large wine casks
sounded…humility played the lowest note of baseness/ humbleness
6 sworn brother avowed intimate friend
leash set of three (usually animals tied together
drawers bartenders, waiters
7 Francis name of the bartender Hal subsequently teases
10 proud pompous
Jack fellow, knave/Jack
Falstaff (diminutive version of John
Corinthian fine fellow—Corinth in ancient Greece was notorious for riotous living
11 mettle spirit, worth
13 dyeing scarlet probably because heavy drinking reddens the complexion; perhaps because urine, a product of drinking, was used to fix dye
breathe…watering pause for breath while drinking (possibly “fart while urinating”)
14 “Hem!” sound of disapproval/a clearing of the throat
play it off finish it up
16 drink…language i.e. consort comfortably with a drinker of any social class/drink heavily (tinkers were reputedly heavy drinkers)
18 action encounter (usually military)
19 pennyworth of sugar small quantity of sugar used to sweeten wine
20 under-skinker low-ranking wai
ter (to “skink” is to pour out liquor)
23 Anon (I’m) coming, just a moment
Score put on the bill
bastard sweet Spanish wine
24 Half-Moon one of the rooms in the tavern
drive pass
25 by-room side room
26 puny inexperienced/young/weedy
to what end why
27 leave stop
29 precedent example
31 perfect word-perfect
33 Pomgarnet Pomegranate, the name of another room in the tavern
37 to serve left of your apprenticeship (the usual length was seven years; Francis is probably fourteen or sixteen)
41 By’r lady by Our Lady (the Virgin Mary
long…pewter long apprenticeship to learn to be a barman (drinking vessels were made of pewter)
43 indenture contract by which an apprentice was bound
45 books i.e. Bibles
50 Michaelmas the feast of Saint Michael, 29 September
52 stay wait
53 for as for, about
64 rob i.e. rob your master of service by running away
leathern jerkin (the master who wears a) tight-fitting leather jacket
crystal-button fashionable shiny buttons
65 not-pated short-haired
agate-ring ring set with a carved agate stone
puke-stocking dark-colored heavy woolen stockings
caddis-garter garter made of woolen tape
66 smooth-tongue smooth-talker, flatterer
Spanish-pouch wallet of Spanish leather
68 brown bastard Spanish wine, sweeter than the white variety
your only drink the best of drinks
69 doublet tight-fitting jacket
70 sully get dirty
Barbary region in northern Africa (from which sugar was imported
it i.e. sugar
amazed dumbfounded
Vintner innkeeper selling wine
83 merry as crickets proverbial presumably because they jump about “singing”
84 cunning match clever game, contest of wits
85 issue outcome, point
87 goodman title for those below the rank of gentleman (the biblical
Adam was a gardener)
86 I…midnight I now understand all the moods that have ever existed from the beginning of time until now (i.e. I’m in the mood for anything/I have seen everything)
90 Anon puns on “one” (pronounced similarly)
92 yet nevertheless (be
industry business, labor, diligence
is is to run
93 the…reckoning consists of the items on a bill
94 mind opinion, way of thinking
kills me kills me is colloquial/emphatic)
98 drench drink/draught of medicine
100 brawn lump of flesh/fattened boar or pig
101 “Rivo!” presumably a drinking cry; of uncertain origin
102 ribs fatty meat on bones (i.e. Falstaff
tallow animal fat
104 of on
106 nether stocks stockings for the lower leg
foot darn the sole, repair the foot
108 virtue extant courage still alive
109 Titan Roman sun god (large and red-faced like Falstaff as he “kisses” the cup of sack); there may be sexual innuendo in
butter (a whore was a “dish of butter”),
melted (ejaculated), and
tale (puns on “tail,” i.e. genitals)
110 pitiful-hearted compassionate, tender
111 compound mixture (melted butter), i.e. either Falstaff and sack or Falstaff and sweat
112 lime calcium oxide, used to preserve wine
115 Go thy ways off you go
118 shotten herring a herring that has spawned its eggs (i.e. thin and weak)
120 while present age
121 weaver many were Protestant immigrants, known for psalm singing
123 wool-sack large bale of wool; judges traditionally sat on them
125 dagger of lath stage dagger made of soft wood, traditionally used by the comic Vice in morality plays
126 I’ll…more i.e. I’m not a real man
hair a beard
128 round fat/plain speaking
137 backing supporting/turning one’s back, running away
138 face stand face to face/defy, contradict
139 drunk have had anything to drink
142 All’s…that so what, it doesn’t matter
145 ta’en taken
149 poor only
151 at half-sword at close quarters/fighting with short swords
154 hose breeches
buckler small shield—sword and buckler were considered old-fashioned or lower-class weapons
155 like a hand-saw with the edge so notched from blows it appears serrated like the blade of a saw
ecce signum “behold the sign or proof” (Latin; echoes words from the Catholic Mass
dealt fought
156 all…do all this was not enough though
158 sons of darkness biblical phrase (1 Thessalonians 5:5)
165 Ebrew Jew a real (Hebrew) Jew, i.e. a knave
168 come…other the others came in
175 peppered made it hot for, stabbed repeatedly
176 paid settled with, killed
buckram coarse linen cloth
178 ward defensive posture (fencing term
lay positioned myself
179 bore my point pointed my sword
let drive at bore down on, attacked
184 a-front abreast
mainly violently
185 made…ado didn’t wait any longer
points sword points
186 target shield
194 mark observe, take note of/keep count
198 points sword points, but Poins takes it to mean the laces attaching the
hose to the doublet
200 give me ground back away
me is emphatic)
201 foot and hand at close range
with a thought as quick as thought
205 misbegotten wretched, bastard
206 Kendal green coarse, green woolen cloth from Kendal in Cumbria (associated with forest outlaws)
208 father i.e. Falstaff, here compared to the devil—the proverbial “father of lies”
begets conceives, creates
209 clay-brained dull-witted
210 knotty-pated thickheaded
211 tallow-catch accumulation of animal fat
218 upon compulsion under force
219 strappado means of torture: the victim was raised by ropes that tied his arms behind his back, then dropped suddenly, which usually dislocated the joints
racks instruments of torture: the victim was tied to a frame which was then extended, stretching the arms and legs in opposite directions
220 reasons puns on “raisins” (i.e. grapes, less readily available than blackberries)
223 sanguine red-faced (with
coward, this creates an oxymoron, as a sanguine temperament was equated with courage)
224 bed-presser heavyweight who will strain beds; perhaps also lazy, one who stays in bed
horseback-breaker one so fat he breaks horses’ backs (pun on “horse”/“whore’s”)
226 elf-skin man of shrunken, fragile form (often emended to “eel-skin”
neat’s ox’s
227 pizzle penis; a dried bull’s penis was sometimes used as a whip
stock-fish dried cod (suggestive of physical weakness and an impotent penis)
228 tailor’s-yard measuring yardstick/penis (tailors were sometimes imaged as thin or effeminate men
sheath cover for knife or sword, i.e. empty case/vagina
bowcase long, thin case for an archer’s bow, hence starveling/vagina
229 standing-tuck slender sword that is either rigid (i.e. useless because insufficiently resilient) or upright (not engaged in action) or idl
e, delaying; with phallic connotations
237 with a word in a word/with merely a single word
out-faced confronted and intimidated
241 slave base-minded villain
243 starting-hole bolt-hole, hiding place
244 apparent evident
246 knew recognized
249 Hercules Greek hero renowned for strength
instinct impulse/innate tendency/intuition
lion…prince lions were popularly thought to recognize and refuse to harm royalty
254 clap to shut
Watch remain awake (for revelry)/be on guard
Gallants fine, fashionable young men
255 hearts fine companions
257 extempore immediately, improvised without rehearsal
258 argument plot, theme
260 an if
267 royal plays on the sense of “coin of greater value than the ‘noble’ [another type of coin]”
271 gravity aged respectability
277 fie expression of reproach or disgust
282 swear… England swear (falsely) with such conviction that truth fled the country
284 spear-grass tough, coarse grass
285 beslubber daub, smear
286 true valiant/honest
that something
287 monstrous devices outrageous tricks
290 taken…manner caught red-handed with the evidence/got into the habit
291 extempore spontaneously (i.e. Bardolph has a permanently red face from drinking
fire i.e. a fiery face
294 meteors…exhalations i.e. red blotches on Bardolph’s face; meteors were considered bad omens and thought to result from the sun sucking up poisonous vapors from the earth
297 portend foretell
298 Hot…purses drunkenness and poverty
299 Choler anger (choler was one of the four bodily “humors” governing the disposition
rightly taken correctly understood (the prince shifts the sense to “justly arrested”)
300 halter a noose (Hal puns on
choler/collar)
302 bombast padding/high-flown language
305 an…in the width of an eagle’s claw around
306 alderman’s thumb-ring seal ring often worn by wealthy citizens on the thumb
52 grief pain
310 Percy i.e. Hotspur
he of Wales i.e. Glendower
Amamon name of a demon
311 bastinado beating with a stick
Lucifer the devil
cuckold man with an unfaithful wife
swore…liegeman made the devil swear to be his true servant
312 Welsh hook hooked staff used as a weapon and lacking the cross shape of a sword (on which oaths were customarily sworn
what a plague intensified form of “what”
320 hit it got it right (the prince plays on the literal sense)
322 mettle spirit (plays on the sense of “metal,” i.e. not fluid and liable to run)