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All Site ContentRomeo and JulietAct 2Scene 4
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"lay knife aboard"
Wordplay
Act 2,
Scene 4
Lines 173-180

An explanation of the phrase, “lay knife aboard” in Act 2, Scene 4 of myShakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Nurse

Well, sir; my mistress is the sweetest lady. Lord, Lord,
when 'twas a little prating thing — O there is a nobleman
in town, one Paris, that would fain lay knife aboard;
but she, good soul, had as lief see a toad, a very toad,
as see him. I anger her sometimes and tell her that Paris
is the properer man; but, I'll warrant you, when I say so
she looks as pale as any clout in the versal world.
Doth not rosemary and Romeo begin both with a letter?

This phrase refers to an old custom. When eating at a common table in a pub or inn, you place your personal knife on the table to claim your spot for the meal. But the Nurse is yet again making another unintentional innuendo here.