Celebrate the Bard's 449th Birthday with CST's TALK LIKE SHAKESPEARE DAY, 4/23

Celebrate Shakespeare's birthday with Talk Like Shakespeare Day -- a day when everyone gets to be a Lord or Lady... or a Fool! -- on April 23, 2013, Shakespeare's 449th Birthday.

- Instead of you, say thou or thee (and instead of y'all, say ye).

- Rhymed couplets are all the rage.

- Men are Sirrah, ladies are Mistress, and your friends are all called Cousin.

- Instead of cursing, try calling your tormenters jackanapes or canker-blossoms or poisonous bunch-back'd toads.

- Don't waste time saying "it," just use the letter "t" ('tis, t'will, I'll do't).

- Verse for lovers, prose for ruffians, songs for clowns.

- When in doubt, add the letters "eth" to the end of verbs (he runneth, he trippeth, he falleth).

- To add weight to your opinions, try starting them with methinks, mayhaps, in sooth or wherefore.

- When wooing ladies: try comparing her to a summer's day. If that fails, say "Get thee to a nunnery!"

- When wooing lads: try dressing up like a man. If that fails, throw him in the Tower, banish his friends and claim the throne.

Visit www.talklikeshakespeare.org to learn more about the day and ways to celebrate.

Pictured: "Sonnet" © 2002 by Ed Paschke (1939-2004), courtesy Maya Polsky Gallery. On permanent display at Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier.

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