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"grave"
Wordplay
Act 3,
Scene 1
Lines 94-98

An explanation of the pun “grave man” in Act 3, Scene 1 of myShakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Romeo

Courage, man; the hurt cannot be much.

Mercutio

No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church
door; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve. Ask for me tomorrow,
and you shall find me a grave man. I am peppered,
I warrant, for this world. A plague o' both your houses!

As an adjective, grave means serious. But Mercutio, punning to the last, suggests that they will find him to be a man in his grave.