h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"Delicate burthens of dildos and fadings"
From Winter's Tale: Act 4 by William Shakespeare

What exactly was he referring to, I am assuming the common meaning of the word was somewhat different in Shakespeare's time to its current common meaning.

Nope.

The word "dildo" dates back to the 16th century...

But Shakespeare littered his plays with bawdy puns such as that one...the audience loved them...

Happy to oblige!!!

I don't suppose you would consider answering the question again in the other place I asked
F103790?thread=222958?thread=&post=2661456#p2661456

So basically the reason no-one finds Shakespeare comedies funny is that they were an early form of "Carry On" movies...

Falstaff Rules

I've got to admit, although largely I dislike Shakespeare, I like Romeo and Juliet, and I saw a very good performance of Henry IV at LIPA's Paul McCartney auditorium, with a fantastic Falstaff, and the Bishop of York played by a German called Wolfgang.

I couple of weeks ago I wuz talking to Simon Callow about his book "Henry IV, Part I (Actors on Shakespeare)", which features a lot about Falstaff, on the strength of that conversation I went out and bought the book - I highly recommend it

No, the reason no one finds Shakespeare's comedies funny, is because they were written in a different era. I occasionally get the jokes, but only because I am pretty good at listening to Elizabethan language...

Hamlet is my current favorite that I am casually pulling apart to use for my own means...

Some of Shakespeare's comedies are funny, but only in performance and only by talented actors who have a good director. They're not funny when read in a book, but then if you take the funniest current comedies you can think of and just read the script, they're not nearly as funny as in performance.

Otto

at Happy Dude

*Rushes off to check if shameless namedropping is a transgression of the house rules*

at Happy Dude

*Rushes off to check if shameless namedropping is a transgression of the house rules*

Well, speak for yourself! Like I said, I get the jokes. I can read comedy & laugh. All depends on the imagination and level of understanding.

Webster's reckons that in this case it means "A burden in popular songs", and quotes "Delicate burthens of dildos and fadings" as an example.

Webster's also says that a 'fading' is "an Irish dance, also the burden of a song". A burden is a chorus or refrain.

So, on the face of it, 'dildo' here doesn't mean what we hope it does.

As to whether Sh. is deliberately making a pun, who knows? I'm not sure whether the modern meaning of dildo was actually current in the early 17th century. One would probably have to consult the full OED, which I don't have.

Context may also give a clue.

I would guess that he is deliberately making a pun. The thing I find about Shakespeare is the fact that he layers his humour so subtlely. There is something for everyone, complex jokes for the toffs and bawdy humour for the groundlings.

I really like him, though I don't like Romeo and Juliet. I think Troilus and Cressida is a better examination of humans in love. Me, bitter? Surely not!

I got my earlier definition from OED...! 16th century origin...

Yes, the origin is 16th century, but that doesn't mean it was in 'current usage'.

As a matter of fact, I think it *is* intended as a pun, but this is only because of the context of the quotation, not because I assume that it must to be the case.

It occurs in a comic scene and the (ingenuous) speaker is talking about Autolycus' "love-songs for maids; so without bawdry, which is strange".