By
my troth, and in good earnest, and so God mend me, and by all pretty oaths that
are not dangerous, if you break one jot of your promise, or come one minute behind
your hour, I will think you the most pathetical break-promise, and the most
hollow lover, and the most unworthy of her you call Rosalind, that may be chosen
out of the gross band of the unfaithful: therefore beware my censure, and keep
your promise.
-Rosalind
As You Like It Act IV scene i, line 185
Well that’s a bit of a mouthful. Talk about run-on sentences!
Without going into context, there are a couple of things to
note. One is ‘jot’. That’s a interesting little word. It means a tiny bit, an
iota. If you break one tiny little piece of your promise... Interestingly, you
can find this word in MW online, and yet it’s not in my Shakespeare glossary.
Perhaps it’s not in the glossary because it’s in MW. But certainly it got more
usage in Will’s works than it does these days. Nonetheless, a great little
word. And I don’t really care one jot whether you agree or not.
And how about break-promise? This is apparently a word, a
noun, for someone who is a promise breaker. You don’t see this type of word
construction too much. So if I make a lot of noise, I’m not a noisemaker, I am
a make-noise. If I write books I’m not a book writer, I’m a write-book. And if
I keep the books (accounting), I’m a keep-books instead of a bookkeeper. Well
we could go on and on with this one, but you get the picture. It’s interesting.
Perhaps I’ll be a trendsetter and start using this particular construction.
Wait, then I’d be a set-trend. Yes, that’s right; a set-trend. Well, to be fair,
I’ve always considered myself a bit of a set-trend anyway.
Here I am demonstrating the proper way to wear a pirate bandana. Oh what a set-trend am I!
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