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"chough"
Wordplay
Act 5,
Scene 2
Lines 83a-88

An explanation of the word “chough” in Act 5, Scene 2 of myShakespeare’s Hamlet.

Hamlet

[Aside to Horatio] Dost know this water-fly?

Horatio

                                                                          No, my good lord.

Hamlet 

Thy state is the more gracious, for 'tis a vice to
know him. He has much land, and fertile. Let a beast
be lord of beasts, and his crib shall stand at the king's mess.
'Tis a chough, but, as I say, spacious in the possession of
dirt.

Hamlet uses this word to insult Osric in two ways. “Chough” can refer to

  • a country bumpkin (in this case, one that is wealthy because of his sizable land holdings)
  • a type of crow that mimics what it hears (as Hamlet will demonstrate)