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"is the worst well?"
Wordplay
Act 2,
Scene 4
Lines 107-109

Mercutio makes fun of the nurse's diction in myShakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 4.

Romeo

I am the youngest of that name, for fault of a worse.

Nurse

You say well.

Mercutio

Yea, is the worst well? Very well took, i' faith, wisely, wisely.

Mercutio is making fun of the nurse’s choice of words. She should have said, “You speak well” instead of saying “You say well.” What Romeo literally said was the word “worse.”  Mercutio asks if the word “worst” means well. Then, by asking “is the worst well?”, he acts as if the nurse has said something “well” taken, even wise.