the world is someone's oyster

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English

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Etymology

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From the version of the play The Merry Wives of Windsor published in the First Folio (1623) of the works of the English playwright William Shakespeare (baptized 1564; died 1616):[1] see the quotation. The original context was that Ancient Pistol would use force to obtain a loan from Sir John Falstaff, like prising open an oyster with a sword to obtain a pearl.[2]

Pronunciation

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Proverb

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the world is someone's oyster

  1. All opportunities are open to someone; the world is theirs.

Usage notes

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As the quotations show, the proverb is frequently used with different forms of the word be, and with different pronouns.

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ The line does not appear in the first quarto of the play published in 1602; in its place is the line “I vvill retort the ſum in equipage”: see William Shakespeare (c. 1597 [date written])  [] [T]he Merrie Wiues of Windsor. [] (First Quarto), London: [] T[homas] C[reede] for Arthur Ihonson, [], published 1602, →OCLC, Act II, scene ii, folio C2, verso.
  2. ^ the world is one’s oyster, phrase” under oyster, n. and adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2023.

Further reading

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