39 hinc the correct form is in fact hunc, though Evans fails to spot this (unless his subsequent hing is a printer’s error for hung)

  41 hing, hang, hog i.e. hunc, hanc, hoc

  42 “Hang-hog” hanging up a pig is necessary to produce bacon

  43 prabbles silly chatter/irritating interruptions

  43 focative i.e. vocative; Evans’s pronunciation inadvertently plays on “fuck”

  44 case plays on the sense of “vagina”

  45 O suggestive of the vagina

  46 caret Latin for “is missing”; Quickly’s response shows that she hears the word as “carrot,” which, along with root, is slang for “penis”

  53 horum plays on “whore”

  53 harum plays on “hare” (another slang term for a prostitute)

  54 Vengeance of a plague upon

  54 Ginny’s case Quickly misunderstands “genitive case” as “this woman Ginny’s case (vagina)”

  58 hick … hack drink (hiccup) and to go whoring/to have sex (with whores)

  65 declension the variation of a pronoun etc. through its different cases

  69 preeches breeched (i.e. whipped on the buttocks)

  72 sprag i.e. sprack (smart/alert)

  2 sufferance suffering

  4 obsequious compliant/dutiful

  4 office role/(sexual) performance

  4 accoutrement adornments, apparel

  5 complement accompanying etiquette

  5 sure of secure from

  8 gossip friend

  12 people i.e. servants

  17 lines tricks

  18 takes on rants

  20 complexion appearance/coloring

  21 Peer out i.e. show yourselves (addressed to his cuckold’s horns)

  23 to compared to

  30 experiment trial

  38 bestow dispose of/stow (him) away

  44 what make you what are you doing

  46 use … birding-pieces make it a custom to fire their guns

  47 kiln-hole opening to the oven

  50 abstract list

  54 semblance appearance

  59 muffler scarf covering part of the face and the neck

  61 mischief injury, misfortune

  62 Brentford originally “Brainford,” a village between Windsor and London, known for amorous assignations

  63 above upstairs

  65 thrummed fringed/with a shaggy surface

  68 look look for

  69 straight straight away

  70 the while in the meantime

  72 shape outward appearance/disguise

  78 good sadness all seriousness

  79 intelligence information

  80 try test

  87 dishonest deceitful, lecherous

  89 honest chaste, virtuous

  90 act actually commit misdeeds/have sex

  91 still quiet

  91 draff swill, leftovers given to pigs

  93 hard at close by/right at the

  94 dispatch hurry

  97 as lief rather

  99 Ay … again? Ford’s reply to whatever Page has just said—presumably something to the effect of “if it prove false that Falstaff is there, you will look like a fool”

  103 panderly pimping/go-between

  103 gin gang

  104 Now … shamed i.e. now the truth will out (proverbial: “speak the truth and shame the devil”)

  107 passes surpasses/is excessive

  108 be pinioned have your wings clipped

  118 hold it out keep up your deception

  132 flea’s death i.e. a miserable death/he shall be crushed like a parasitic insect

  135 fidelity faith

  142 show … extremity offer no excuse for my extreme behavior

  143 table-sport joke among company

  144 leman lover

  151 quean hussy/whore

  151 cozening cheating

  152 of on

  153 under the profession in the name

  155 by th’figure by drawing up horoscopes

  155 daubery trickery

  156 element understanding (literally, the element in which one rightfully belongs)

  160 Mother Prat prat means “a trick” though it was also slang for the buttocks

  161 prat practice tricks on/beat (or simply a nonce-word derived from the name)

  162 rag worthless wretch

  162 runnion abusive term for a woman, perhaps “mangy old bag”

  166 ’Tis … you i.e. that will reflect well on you (said in irony)

  168 By … no a very mild oath (moderated from the Quarto text’s stronger “By Jesu”)

  172 cry … trail bark like a hunting dog when there is in fact no scent

  173 open bark loudly at a scent

  174 obey his humour humor him

  179 hallowed blessed/dedicated to God

  180 meritorious deserving of reward

  181 warrant assurance/authorization (with play on the legal sense: “document authorizing a judicial sentence”)

  184 wantonness lust

  185 fee-simple absolute possession (legal term used of land or property)

  185 fine and recovery legal procedures employed to transfer the ownership of land

  186 waste legal term referring to the damage or alteration of land or property by a tenant (puns on “waist”)

  188 served treated (with a play on the sense of “had sex with”)

  191 figures fantasies

  193 ministers agents

  195 period conclusion

  197 forge

  197 shape it i.e. as one would mold hot iron in the

  9 sauce them make them pay overly high prices

  9 at command at their disposal

  10 come off pay up

  1 ’Tis …’oman she is one of the most prudent/sensible women

  3 an instant the same time

  8 heretic unbeliever/holder of unorthodox religious beliefs

  24 use treat/behave toward

  26 Herne the hunter huntsman of great skill who was wounded after saving the king from a vicious stag; his own life was saved when the dead beast’s antlers were tied to his head, but he was later framed for or caught poaching and hanged himself from an oak in Windsor Great Park, which he is said to haunt

  27 Sometime at one point/formerly

  29 ragged rough, jagged

  30 blasts withers

  30 takes bewitches

  31 milch-kine dairy cows

  34 eld people from the past

  37 want lack

  43 shape disguise/appearance

  47 growth size

  48 urchins goblins/elves

  48 oafs goblin or elf children/changelings

  49 tapers candles

  52 sawpit pit over which wood was laid to be sawn

  53 diffusèd confused, disordered

  61 sound soundly

  70 vizards masks

  75 Eton village over the river from Windsor

  79 properties theatrical props

  80 tricking adornments

  87 well landed in possession of a good amount of land

  88 he … affects my husband favors him most

  1 boor peasant, ill-bred fellow

  1 thick-skin idiot

  2 discuss declare

  6 standing-bed and truckle-bed the truckle-bed was a smaller bed on casters kept beneath the main (standing) bed

  7 Prodigal the Prodigal (extravagant) Son, who appears in the biblical parable (Luke 15)

  8 Anthropophaginian cannibal

  13 lungs military military lungs

  14 Ephesian boon companion/fellow degenerate

  16 Bohemian-Tartar i.e. savage, dissolute person

  18 Privacy seclusion, concealment (implying that Falstaff has been having sex with the “woman”)

  21 wise woman woman skilled in magic

  22 mussel-shell perhaps Simple is gaping open-mouthed or is being imaged as something worthless and insignificant

  26 beguiled deceived

  35 conceal malapropism for “reveal”

  43 like … bold as bold as the boldest

  46 clerkly learned

  51 mere absolute

  52 varletto i.e. varlet, loosely Italianized by the Host

  55 slough of mire muddy bog

  56 Doctor Faustuses In Christopher Marlowe’s play of the same name, Doctor Faustus, a German, sold his soul to the devil; this passage seems to allude to a scene in which three characters are thrown in a mire

  61 entertainments the hospitality you provide for your guests

  62 cozen-germans cheating Germans/men pretending to be Germans (plays on “cousin german”—i.e. first cousin)

  63 Readings … Colebrook small towns not far from Windsor (Readings is Caius’ Welsh plural for Reading; Colebrook is now Colnbrook)

  65 vlouting-stocks flouts (i.e. mockery); literally flouting-stocks (i.e. laughingstocks)

  66 convenient appropriate

  71 Jamany i.e. Germany

  72 that … come i.e. who is known to have arrived or is due to arrive at court

  74 Hue … villain a cry used to call for the pursuit of a criminal (addressed to Bardolph)

  81 liquor smear with oil or grease (to render waterproof)

  84 forswore … primero cheated in a card game but swore that I had not

  84 wind breath

  88 dam mother

  89 bestowed got rid of

  93 speciously malapropism for “specially”

  96 like likely/about

  97 But were it not for the fact that

  105 crossed thwarted

  2 over up (my efforts in support of your pursuit of Anne Page)

  7 counsel secret

  11 So far forth insofar

  12 to in accordance with

  14 mirth i.e. the humorous account of the humiliation of Falstaff

  14 larded … matter intermingled with my current concerns

  17 scene i.e. role in the drama

  17 image idea

  18 at large in full (Fenton may be showing the Host Anne’s letter)

  22 rank on foot abundantly afoot

  28 shuffle smuggle

  29 tasking of occupying

  30 dean’ry house belonging to the dean of a church

  33 it rests the matter stands

  35 habit clothing

  38 denote mark out

  40 quaint prettily/fashionably

  40 loose enrobed loosely dressed/gowned with an outer garment

  41 pendent hanging

  41 flaring spread out/waving in the wind

  42 vantage opportunity

  43 token sign

  48 stay wait

  51 husband manage (with an obvious pun)

  51 device plan

  54 present immediate

  1 hold keep the appointment

  3 divinity divine power

  7 wears wears away/is running out

  8 mince i.e. get moving (literally, walk daintily/trippingly)

  20 Goliath … beam according to the Bible, the giant Goliath had a spear like a weaver’s beam (i.e. wooden roller in a loom)

  21 shuttle another quotation adapted from the Bible; a shuttle was an instrument used in weaving for passing thread to and fro

  23 whipped top made a top (child’s toy) spin by lashing it

  26 in hand are happening

  1 couch lie/hide

  5 nay-word code word

  6 “mum” … “budget” “mumbudget” was a phrase meaning “keep silent”

  9 decipher reveal

  11 become suit

  3 dispatch get on with it/conclude it

  8 chafe be vexed/inflamed

  14 obscured concealed

  17 choose but amaze fail to terrify/astound

  1 Trib trip (i.e. come on/move nimbly)

  3 watch-’ords watchwords (i.e. password/signal)

  3 Jove … Europa Europa, daughter of the king of Phoenicia, was carried away by Jove, king of the gods; disguised as a bull, he swam to Crete with her on his back

  6 Leda in the guise of a swan, Jupiter (or Jove) seduced Leda, wife of the king of Sparta

  8 fault sin, with particular application to fornication and possible play on “vagina”

  10 backs loins

  12 rut-time mating season

  12 piss my tallow piss away my fat; stags were thought to urinate more frequently during the mating season, by the end of which their energetic behavior had caused them to lose weight

  13 doe female deer/mate/whore

  14 deer puns on “dear”

  15 scut tail/vulva

  15 potatoes sweet or Spanish potatoes were considered aphrodisiacs

  16 kissing-comfits confectionary for sweetening the breath

  17 eryngoes candied roots of the sea holly; a type of sweetmeat viewed as an aphrodisiac

  17 provocation sexual stimulation

  19 sweetheart puns on “sweet hart” (i.e. male deer)

  20 Divide … buck in order to conceal the theft, stolen (bribed) deer were cut up and divided rapidly among the poachers

  21 fellow … walk gamekeeper of this part of the wood

  23 woodman hunter/womanizer/lunatic

  24 Cupid … restitution i.e. Cupid is conscientiously making amends to me

  31 oil i.e. grease/fat

  32 cross thwart

  32 Hobgoblin another name for Puck or Robin Goodfellow

  34 shades spirits

  35 orphan parentless/neglected/friendless

  35 heirs … destiny offspring who have set roles to carry out/inheritors of destiny (perhaps with the power to influence it)

  36 Attend … quality attend to your duties and particular occupations

  37 Crier town crier, maker of public announcements

  37 oyez i.e. “hear ye”

  38 list listen for

  38 toys insubstantial creatures

  40 unraked without coals and ashes heaped together to maintain burning through the night

  41 bilberry small blue-black fruit

  44 wink shut my eyes

  44 eye observe

  47 Raise … fantasy stimulate her imagination, give her delightful dreams

  48 Sleep she may she sleep

  48 careless free from anxiety

  49 as who

  51 About about it/to action

  53 oafs elves

  54 perpetual doom judgment day

  55 as … fit as sound in condition as it is deserving of dignity

  56 Worthy worthy of

  57 several … order individual seats assigned to the Knights of the Garter (in the castle chapel)

  58 balm fragrant herbs

  59 instalment stall (i.e. place or seat assigned to a knight)

  59 coat coat of arms

  59 crest heraldic device originally worn on a helmet

  60 blazon banner bearing the coat of arms

  62 compass circle (i.e. the Garter ribbon, worn below the knee)

  63 Th’expressure picture, expression (i.e. fairy ring or circle of darker green grass)

  65 Honi … pense “shamed be he who thinks evil (of it)” (the French motto that appeared on the Garter ribbons)

  68 Buckled tied

  69 charactery writing

  71 dance of custom customary dance

  75 measure stately dance

  76 man of middle-earth i.e. a mortal, dwelling on the earth (midway between heaven and hell)

  78 cheese supposedly the favorite food of the Welsh

  79 o’erlooked looked on with the evil eye, bewitched

  81 trial-fire testing fire

  81 touch me touch (me is emphatic)

  83 turn expose

  83 start recoil, flinch

  86 wood i.e. Falstaff’s finger

  90 About surround

  91 trip dance/skip

  91 still continually

  93 fantasy imaginings/amorous desire

  94 luxury lechery green … Anne the original Quarto stage direction has Caius taking a boy in red, Slender one in green, and Anne in white; see “Text” in Key Facts

  95 bloody fire fire in the blood/lustful fire

  99 mutually all together

  103 watched spied and caught

  104 serve your turn do for you

  105 hold … higher maintain the joke no more

  107 yokes Falstaff’s antlers are shaped like the oxen’s yoke

  114 arrested seized by legal warrant (until the debt is paid)

  116 meet encounter one another amorously

  117 deer puns on “dear”

  119 proofs i.e. his horns

  119 extant apparent/protruding

  122 surprise … powers ambush of my faculties/understanding

  123 foppery trickery, foolery

  123 in … of in spite of, the face of

  125 Wit intelligence

  125 Jack-a-Lent figure of a man traditionally pelted during Lent, butt of jokes

  134 wants matter lacks the means

  134 o’erreaching deception

  135 with by

  135 coxcomb fool’s cap (with a crest like a cock’s comb)

  136 frieze coarse woolen cloth

  140 fritters fried scraps of battered meat

  141 late-walking going out with whores late at night

  146 hodge-pudding pudding made from a random assortment of ingredients

  146 bag of flax sack of flax (plant fibers used for cloth)

  147 puffed swollen

  148 intolerable insufferable/ excessively large/impossible to carry

  150 Job in the Bible, Job suffered great poverty; his wife advised him to curse God for it

  153 metheglins spiced liquor of Welsh origin

  154 starings glares

  155 theme subject (of your mockery)

  155 start of advantage over

  156 dejected cast down, humbled, humiliated

  156 flannel coarse woolen cloth

  157 Ignorance … me I am searched to the very depths by ignorance itself (i.e. Evans); may pun on “plumbet” (woolen fabric)

  157 plummet device for measuring the depth of the sea

  159 should … pander were to have been a pimp

  162 posset hot drink made with milk, liquor, and spices

  167 this this time, now

  169 dispatched managed things

  171 know of what

  172 Of what i.e.

  174 lubberly loutish

  175 swinged beaten

  177 postmaster keeper of post horses (which were hired out for the swift conveyance of messages)

  178 took the wrong went wrong (in following instructions); Slender responds to the sense of “made a mistake (in thinking the boy was Anne)”

  181 had him accepted him as my wife/had sex with him

  184 green most editors emend to “white” for consistency with the setup in 5.2

  188 white most editors emend to “green” for consistency with the setup in 4.6