Eysell, vinegar: “I will drink potions of e. 'gainst my strong infection,” Sonn. 111, 10 (vinegar being esteemed efficacious in preventing the communication of the plague and other contagious distempers). “woo't weep? woo't fight? woo't fast? woo't tear thyself? woo't drink up e.? eat a crocodile?” Hml. V, 1, 299 (Qq esill, Ff esile in italics; Keightley Yssel, Hanmer Nile, Capell Nilus. About to drink up see Drink and Up. Hamlet's questions are evidently ludicrous, and drinking vinegar, in order to produce 'a vinegar aspect', seems much more to the purpose than drinking up rivers. As for the crocodile, it must be remembered, that it is a mournful animal; cf. H6B III, 1, 226 and Oth. IV, 1, 257; and therefore the most convenient meat for such a mourner as Laertes).
Shakespeare Lexicon. Alexander Schmidt. Berlin. Georg Reimer. 1902.
This text was converted to electronic form by professional data entry and has been proofread to a high level of accuracy.
hide
Dictionary Entry Lookup
Use this tool to search for dictionary entries in all lexica.
