distracted her driven her mad
101 level fair, balanced
102 practised upon worked craftily on, taken advantage of
easy-yielding generous, soft-hearted/sexually pliant
103 troth truth (plays on the sense of “pledge of marriage”)
104 Pay…debt plays on the sense of “undertake your obligation of marital sex”
105 unpay undo, make good
106 current present, immediate/genuine
108 sneap snub, rebuke
110 curtsy bow
111 your…remembered not forgetting the respect due to one in your position
be your suitor petition you for a favor
114 power authorization
115 in…reputation in accordance with the reputation you claim
satisfy financially reimburse/sexually pleasure
124 heavenly ground Quickly mixes religious and secular oaths: by this heavenly light/by the ground I walk on
125 fain content
plate silver or gold tableware, presumably cups in view of Falstaff’s response
127 Glasses…drinking in the late sixteenth century glassware was becoming more fashionable than metal drinking vessels
128 drollery comic picture or drawing
Prodigal biblical story of the wasteful prodigal son, a popular subject for wall hangings
129 German hunting hunting scenes of German origin
water-work imitation tapestry/watercolor
132 humours moods
133 draw thy action withdraw your lawsuit
134 set on put up
135 nobles gold coins worth about a third of a pound
I I am
136 la exclamation used for emphasis
137 shift arrangements
still always
141 Will I live? i.e. as sure as I live
142 hook on hang on to her, don’t let her out of sight
143 Doll a common name for a prostitute
Tearsheet again suggestive of prostitution, evoking vigorous sexual activity sufficient to tear the bedsheets
145 have plays on the sense of “possess sexually”
149 Basingstoke a market town in Hampshire, forty-six miles south-west of London
156 presently immediately
163 being it being the case that
164 take soldiers up enlist soldiers
169 grace style
170 tap for tap tit for tat
fair on good terms
171 lighten thee enlighten you/reduce your weight
great considerable/fat
3 attached arrested, taken into custody (legal term)
4 discolours…greatness makes me blush/tarnishes my princely status
5 show vilely appear base
6 small beer weak or thin beer/trivial occupations
7 loosely studied poorly educated/concerned with immoral matters
8 composition mixture, brew/invention
9 Belike perhaps, most likely
got begotten, created
12 disgrace…name a member of the royal family would not have been expected to have any kind of personal relationship with a commoner
14 videlicet “namely” (Latin)
15 bear be aware of
16 for superfluity as a spare
18 low…racket i.e. he doesn’t play when he hasn’t got a shirt to change into
20 Low Countries nether regions, i.e. his sexual appetite and brothel use
made…Holland contrived to use up the money that would have been spent on shirts (Holland, one of the Low Countries, was a source of fine linen)
29 Go to exclamation of dismissive impatience
stand the push withstand the thrust
31 meet fitting
32 albeit even though
33 fault lack
35 Very hardly with difficulty
37 try test, judge, determine
40 ostentation outward show
45 never a no
46 keeps the roadway sticks to the common path (of men’s thoughts)
48 accites induces/summons (in legal sense)
49 lewd common, base
50 engraffed closely attached
54 second brother i.e. a younger son without an inheritance, dependent on his wits
proper…hands good in a fight
58 transformed him ape apparently Falstaff has dressed his page up in an elaborate outfit, like a performing monkey
60 Save God save
your grace respectful title, but Henry shifts the sense of grace to “virtue, honor”
63 blushing i.e. red-faced from drink
65 get…maidenhead i.e. drain a tankard of ale
maidenhead virginity
66 red lattice the lattice windows of alehouses were usually painted red; Bardolph’s face is therefore indistinguishable from the background
69 ale-wife’s new petticoat landlady’s (red) skirt (not necessarily underwear); red clothing was associated with prostitution
71 profited benefited (from Falstaff’s teaching)
73 Althaea’s dream in classical mythology Althaea was told that her son would live until a burning brand was consumed; the Page confuses her with Hecuba, mother of Paris, who dreamed that she would give birth to a firebrand that would destroy Troy (as Paris’ actions later did)
76 fire-brand burning log/mischief maker
79 blossom i.e. the Page
80 cankers grubs that destroy plants
sixpence probably alludes to the cross on an Elizabethan sixpence
82 If…among you if your influence doesn’t end up getting him hanged
87 good respect very properly, most ceremoniously (ironic given Bardolph’s blunt delivery)
88 martlemas i.e. fattened beast; Martinmas, the feast of Saint Martin (11 November), was associated with the slaughter of cattle and pigs
92 wen wart, growth
93 holds his place insists on his rank
95 as…himself since he continually reminds them whenever he mentions his name
even like in the same way as
98 conceive understand
99 borrower’s cap i.e. readily removed in humble respect
100 will be are determined to be
but…Japhet even if they have to derive their claim from as far back as Japhet, Noah’s third son
104 certificate license issued to a subject by the king; in a letter the addressee’s name should come first
109 I…thee Falstaff imitates
Roman brevity by emulating the structure of Caesar’s veni, vidi, vici (“I came, I saw, I conquered”) : “I present my kind regards, praise your virtues and say goodbye”
111 idle times leisure
mayst can
112 by…no a mild oath
113 familiars close friends
115 steep soak
sack Spanish white wine
116 twenty i.e. a lot
117 use treat, behave toward
120 play…time pass the time foolishly
125 frank sty, pigpen
128 Ephesians…church good old companions of the usual disreputable ways
132 pagan heathen/prostitute
133 proper respectable
135 town bull commonly owned bull that was used to impregnate all the heifers
144 road i.e. whore (used by all men; road was slang for “vagina”)
145 way…London i.e. Watling Street, the main road from London to the Midlands St Albans Hertfordshire town twenty-five miles north of London
147 bestow behave
150 drawers bartenders, waiters
151 God…bull refers to the supreme god
Jove’s transformation into a bull, in which form he raped Europa
heavy declension serious decline
152 case plays on the sense of “vagina”
prentice apprentice (bartender)
154 weigh with equal, counterbalance
2 even way smooth passage
rough difficult
3 visage face, i.e. attitude
8 but except for
10 time…word Lady Percy refers to Northumberland’s failure to join his son at Shrewsbury (see 1 Henry IV)
19 grey pale blue
21 glass mirror
22 dress themselves fashion themselves, using him as a model
23 He…gait there was no one who did not imitate his manner of walking
24 thick rapidly and loudly
27 turn…abuse spoil their naturally pleasant manner of speaking
29 affections of delight enjoyment of pleasures
30 humours of blood moods
31 mark reference point
34 unseconded unsupported
36 abide a field face a battle
38 defensible to offer any defense
39 ghost soul, spirit
40 precise and nice scrupulous and particular
42 marshal…archbishop i.e. Mowbray and the Archbishop of York
45 Monmouth’s i.e. the Prince of Wales’
46 Beshrew curse
47 spirits vital powers
48 new newly, again
ancient oversights past mistakes
51 provided prepared, equipped
54 puissance power, strength
55 ground…of superiority and advantage over
59 so suffered allowed to do so
came I I became
61 remembrance perhaps the plant of remembrance, rosemary
63 recordation to commemoration of
66 still-stand pause, standstill
69 for to make for
1 Apple-johns type of apple said to be in best eating condition when shriveled
Drawers bartenders, waiters
8 cover lay the table
9 noise band of musicians
10 fain gladly
12 anon soon
jerkins close-fitting jackets often made of leather
15 old Utis fine larks, high jinks (from the now obsolete word utas, meaning “festivity”)
19 temperality Quickly means “temper” (plays on “temporality,” i.e. time)
pulsidge malapropism for “pulse”
20 extraordinarily malapropism for “ordinarily”
22 canaries wine from the Canary Islands
searching penetrating, powerful
23 perfumes probably a malapropism for “perfuses,” i.e. suffuses, permeates
25 Hem! probably a hiccup
28 ‘When…court’ a line from the popular ballad “Sir Launcelot du Lake”
29 jordan chamberpot
32 calm i.e. “qualm,” a fit of faintness
good sooth truly
33 sect sex/type/profession
If…sick for a woman or a prostitute to be quiet means she is unwell
37 rascals rogues/lean young deer
38 make possibly with sexual connotations: “have sex with”
40 cook plays on the sense of “pimp” and puns on “cock”
41 catch of get diseases (specifically, venereal disease) from (Doll responds to the sense of “steal from”)
44 ‘Your…ouches’ presumably a line from a ballad, but
broaches, pearls and ouches are also terms for skin lesions (associated with venereal disease)
ouch gem/boil
serve in military and sexual sense
45 bravely courageously/showily
halting limping (from injury sustained in war/as a result of syphilitic bone erosion; “come off” could mean “dismount sexually”)
46 breach gap in fortifications/vagina
pike staff with an iron spike/penis
surgery treatment (for injury/venereal disease)
47 charged chambers loaded barrels of small cannon/infectious vagina
50 rheumatic Quickly probably intends “choleric,” i.e. temperamentally hot and dry
51 confirmities malapropism for “infirmities” misleadingly suggesting “resemblances”
What…year! common exclamation of impatience (like “What the devil!”)
52 bear be tolerant/bear the weight of a man during sex/bear children
54 vessel now takes on vaginal connotations
55 hogshead large wine barrel, i.e. Falstaff
venture i.e. cargo (risked in a sea voyage)
Bordeaux stuff wine from Bordeaux in France
56 hulk big, unwieldy person/large ship
60 Ancient ensign, i.e. soldier responsible for carrying military banners Pistol pronounced “pizzle,” generating a pun on the sense of “penis”
62 swaggering blustering, insolent, quarrelsome
65 I’ll I’ll have
66 fame reputation
73 Tilly-fally nonsense
74 Tisick i.e. “phthisic” or tuberculosis, a wasting disease of the lungs
75 deputy one acting in place of a magistrate, before whom Quickly has been summoned for keeping a disorderly tavern
77 Dumbe parsons who did not preach or who did so with insufficient vigor were known as “dumb dogs”
by nearby
78 receive i.e. as customers
79 are…name have a bad reputation
Now…whereupon and now I understand why
82 companions fellows
83 bless you be surprised/consider yourself fortunate
85 tame harmless
87 Barbary hen guinea fowl/prostitute
91 am the worse feel ill
94 if it as if I were
97 charge load (like a gun)/toast
98 discharge fire/toast/ejaculate
99 two bullets plays on the idea of “testicles”
100 Pistol-proof bulletproof/resistant to your charms, or penis/past childbearing age
hardly plays on notion of erectile hardness
101 Come possible play on sense of “orgasm”
102 drink plays on the sense of “have sex”
103 Dorothy Doll is the shortened form of the name
104 Charge Doll interprets this in a sexual sense, perhaps “charge at with a (phallic) weapon” or “burden (with pregnancy)”
scurvy worthless, contemptible
105 lack-linen mate poorly dressed fellow
106 meat…master i.e. too good for you (meat puns on “mate” and on the sense of “whore”)
107 know perhaps with sexual overtones (i.e. “am familiar with you sexually”)
108 cutpurse thieving, pickpocket
bung pickpocket
109 chaps cheeks
110 saucy cuttle insolent thief (a cuttle was the knife used by thieves to cut the strings securing purses to people’s belts)
bottle-ale perhaps meaning cheap or frothy
111 basket-hilt i.e. swashbuckling, inadequate (literally, sword hilt provided with a defense for the swordsman’s hand, consisting of narrow plates of steel curved into the shape of a basket)
juggler trickster
Since when i.e. how long have you claimed to be a soldier/so manly
112 points laces for attaching armor
Much! sarcastic exclamation (i.e. “Much manly prowess you have!”/“Two points certainly is a lot!”)
113 murder i.e. rip off, tear (i.e. sexually assault; ruff was slang for “vagina”)
ruff prostitutes were known for wearing large ruffs
114 Captain Quickly promotes Pistol (who is an ensign), either inadvertently or in order to flatter him
118 truncheon beat
out i.e. of their ranks, from military service
121 bawdy-house brothel
122 stewed prunes a dish commonly available in brothels (hence also “whores”)
dried stale
124 look to it beware, look out
125 down downstairs
130 I’ll…first this and several of Pistol’s subsequent speeches are set in prose in Folio, but consist of fragments and parodies of verse plays, so they should be spoken as verse, though the rhythms and lin
e breaks are highly irregular
131 Pluto’s damnèd lake Pluto was the Roman god of the underworld, which had several rivers; the Romans thought that the Italian lake Avernus was the entrance to the underworld
133 Erebus son of Chaos and Night, used to personify the underworld
134 Hold…line i.e. don’t let go (angling terminology)
135 Fates classical goddesses of destiny
136 Hiren perhaps Pistol has affectedly named his sword; Hiren (Irene) may refer to a character in George Peele’s lost play The Turkish Mahomet and Hiren the Fair Greek; puns on “iron,” again suggesting Pistol’s sword
137 Peesel variant pronunciation of “Pistol,” further emphasizing play on “pizzle” (penis)
138 beseek i.e. beseech
aggravate in fact Quickly means the opposite, perhaps “abrogate” (put an end to)
choler anger, one of the four bodily humours
139 humours moods (literally, bodily fluids governing the temperament)
Shall…day closely modeled on lines in Christopher Marlowe’s Tamburlaine Part II, 4.3.1–2; much of Pistol’s speech parodies theatrical rhetoric
140 jades worn-out horses/whores
142 cannibals Pistol may mean “Hannibal” (i.e. famous Carthaginian general who fought the Romans in the third century BC)
143 Trojan Greeks Greeks besieging Troy in the Trojan war, or Pistol confuses the two groups (may play on sense of “jolly, roistering fellows”)
144 King Cerberus the three-headed dog that guarded the entrance to the underworld; not a king
145 welkin sky, heavens
fall…toys quarrel/be destroyed over trifles
150 Die men let men die
Give…pins give crowns away as though they were worth no more than pins
153 deny her deny that she is here (Quickly thinks that Pistol is referring to an actual woman, probably a prostitute)
155 feed…Calipolis parodies a line in George Peele’s The Battle of Alcazar
157 Si…contento “If fortune torments me, hope contents me” (rather garbled Italian)
158 broadsides simultaneous discharge of artillery from one side of a ship
give fire shoot
160 full points an end (literally, full stops, periods); plays on the sense of “erect penises”
etceteras nothing both euphemisms for the vagina
162 neaf hand
163 seven stars constellation of the Pleiades; Pistol suggests they’ve enjoyed themselves at night
165 fustian cheap/bombastic
166 Galloway nags small Scottish horses/prostitutes
168 Quoit throw
shove-groat shilling shilling coin used in shove-groat, a board game that involved moving a coin toward a compartment
172 incision i.e. bloodshed