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All Site ContentRomeo and JulietAct 1Scene 1
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"Words with different meanings"
Wordplay
Act 1,
Scene 1
Lines 2-4

A discussion of a play on words with the same pronunciation as collar in addition to the use of the word draw in Act 1, Scene 1 of myShakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Gregory

No, for then we should be colliers.

Sampson

I mean, an we be in choler we'll draw.

Gregory

Ay, while you live, draw your neck out of collar.

Shakespeare plays on three words that sound similar:

  • collier: a coal worker
  • choler: anger
  • collar: slang for the hangman’s noose

Gregory picks up on Sampson’s use of the word “draw.”