Did you know that it was Shakespeare’s birthday on 23 April? The Bard, as he is known, was responsible for introducing hundreds of new words into the English language back in the 1600s, many of which we still use today.

Manager, Ladybird, Inaudible, Swagger and Laughable are among those first penned by Shakespeare. Less common terms are Clay-brained, Dog-hearted, Paper-faced and Rump-fed. Words creating a compliment include Honey-tongued, Tiger-booted, Wafer-cake and Smilet.

Shakespeare’s words are so cleverly crafted but many have fallen out of favour. Nevertheless – there is plenty of opportunity to use his expressions as an articulation warm-up, before an important speech.

Using your tongue and lips to their fullest potential, try saying:
‘Thou thunder darting, tiger booted, canker blossom”. Or how about, ‘Thou peevish, shag-eared rabbit-sucker’? Slow the words right down for the fullest effect.

If you really want to get your articulators moving, this one will certainly help:
‘Thou waggish, peevish, grizzled, white-livered clot pole.’ Not one to try on your director if you’re looking for the next rung on the career ladder, perhaps.

Shakespeare can be a lot of fun. Using just a few of his less common words as a warm up releases you from the ordinary and takes you to the unexpected. This helps with slowing your speech down a little and giving your lips and tongue time to fully form the sounds of the words.

Good luck with that, thou celestial, young-eyed cuckoo-bud!

For more information on how to improve your articulation, get in touch.