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A, a mutilation of the pronoun he, not only in the language of common people (f. i. Ado III, 3, 28. Ado III, 3, 28 Ado III, 3, 28 Ado III, 3, 28 Ado III, 3, 28 LLL IV, 1, 136. LLL IV, 1, 136 Merch. II, 2, 56. Alls IV, 5, 41. H6B I, 3, 7. IV, 2, 58. 125) but of well-bred persons: “a must keep peace,” Ado II, 3, 201. “a brushes his hat,” III, 2, 41. “a rubs himself with civet,” III, 2, 41 “is a not approved a villain,” IV, 1, 303. “a shall wear nothing handsome,” V, 4, 104. “whoe'er a was, a showed a mounting mind,” LLL IV, 1, 4. “a killed your sister,” V, 2, 13. “if a have no more man's blood,” V, 2, 13 “a will make the man mad,” Shr. IV, 5, 35. “a means to cozen somebody,” V, 1, 39. “a will betray us,” Alls IV, 1, 102. “nothing of me, has a?” IV, 3, 129. “a was a botcher's prentice,” IV, 3, 129 “a pops me out,” John I, 68. “an a may catch your hide,” II, 136. “a were as good crack a fusty nut,” Troil. II, 1, 111. “a would have ten shares,” II, 3, 230. “brings a victory in his pocket?” Cor. II, 1, 135. “a shall not tread on me,” V, 3, 127. “as a lies asleep,” Rom. I, 4, 80. “a bears the third part,” Ant. II, 7, 96 etc. Few M. Edd. retain the ancient spelling, most change it to he. In many cases even O. Edd. differ, Qq having a, Ff “he:” Ado I, 1, 90. II, 1, 17. II, 3, 178. LLL V, 2, 323. LLL V, 2, 323 LLL V, 2, 323 H6B II, 2, 75. Rom. V, 1, 38. Hml. II, 1, 58. IV, 5, 185. IV, 5, 185 V, 1, 74 etc. In Alls I, 3, 90 (one in ten, quoth a!) a seems, at first sight, to be used for she; but in fact there is no certain reference to any particular person; cf. “ah! sirrah, quoth a, we shall do nothing but eat,” H4B V, 3, 17. “ho! says a, there's my cap,” Ant. II, 7, 141.
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hide References (12 total)
  • Cross-references in text-specific dictionaries from this page (12):
    • William Shakespeare, Anthony and Cleopatra, 2.7
    • William Shakespeare, Coriolanus, 2.1
    • William Shakespeare, Coriolanus, 5.3
    • William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, 2.1
    • William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, 4.5
    • William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, 5.1
    • William Shakespeare, King John, 1.1
    • William Shakespeare, King John, 2.1
    • William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry VI, 1.3
    • William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry VI, 2.2
    • William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henry VI, 4.2
    • William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, 2.2
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