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11 of the funniest Shakespearean insults

To celebrate the Bard’s birthday, we enlisted the help of Sh*t-faced Shakespeare to put together some of their favourite Shakespearean burns

Guest Contributor

Guest Contributor

| London | London's West End |

20 April 2017

This Sunday would have been Bard's 453rd birthday. He may be best known for his plays and sonnets, but he was also a pioneer of insults. So to celebrate his birthday we asked the cast of Sh*t-faced Shakespeare for their favourite Shakespeare insults.


"Thine face is not worth sunburning."

Henry V (Act Five, Scene Two)

"Would thou wert clean enough to spit upon."

Timon of Athens (Act Four, Scene Three)

"I’ll beat thee, but I would infect my hands."

Timon of Athens (Act Four, Scene Three)

"Methink’st thou art a general offence and every man should beat thee."

All’s Well That Ends Well (Act Two, Scene Three)

"You scullion! You rampallian! You fustilarian! I’ll tickle your catastrophe!"

Henry IV Part 2 (Act Two, Scene One)

Much Ado About Nothing (Act Three, Scene Four)
Much Ado About Nothing (Act Three, Scene Four)

"Villain, I have done thy mother"

Titus Andronicus (Act Four, Scene Two)

"Thou art as fat as butter."

Henry IV Part One (Act Two, Scene Four)

"Thou sodden-witted lord! Thou hast no more brain than I have in mine elbows "

Troilus and Cressida (Act Two, Scene One)

"The tartness of his face sours ripe grapes."

The Comedy of Errors (Act Five, Scene Four)

"Away, you three-inch fool!"

The Taming of the Shrew (Act Three, Scene Three)

Let us know your favourite Shakespeare insults on Facebook and Twitter


Sh*t-Faced Shakespeare – Much Ado About Nothing runs at the Leicester Square Theatre until 16 September.

Click here to vote in our Shakespeare's lovers poll

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