the lady doth protest too much
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]- the lady doth protest too much, methinks
- methinks the lady doth protest too much
- methinks thou dost protest too much
Etymology
[edit]An allusion to Shakespeare's Hamlet,[1] where the line is spoken by Queen Gertrude, Hamlet's mother. In the play, "protest" is used to mean "insist that what one is saying is true" (in this case, the Player Queen's protestations of love), not "insist that what another is saying is false."
Phrase
[edit]the lady doth protest too much
- It is suspected that, because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite of what he or she is saying must be true; a hit dog will holler.
- 1897, Samuel Butler, The Authoress of the Odyssey:
- In all Penelope's devotion to her husband there is an ever present sense that the lady doth protest too much.
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true
|
See also
[edit]the lady doth protest too much on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
References
[edit]- ^ c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
- The Lady doth proteſt too much methinks.
Further reading
[edit]