[goldstategop]

Isaac Asimov wrote that one of the reasons English still reads like a 16th language is that modernizing it too radically would mean we could no longer comprehend Shakespeare. So he acted as a brake on the development of English. This is striking since by Shakespeare's day, Chaucer's Middle English was already obsolete. No one today understands Chaucer without translation but everyone "gets" Shakespeare even if the meanings of some words have changed with the passage of time. Next to the KJB, the greatest cultural and literary influence on the thought of English-speaking peoples has been Shakespeare's plays and sonnets. They have a universality that defy their time and place.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[bannie]

(English majors can understand Canterbury Tales)

Methinks that, like anything else, things you don't understand are not interesting. Once you take the time to understand it, it can be delightful! AND it can open up many new interests.

[bannie]

AND Shakespeare coined many of our every-day words!