Have you ever said you were “in a pickle” or that something was “a wild-goose chase”? Then you’ve been quoting William Shakespeare! In this episode of Beneath the Lexicon, we look at nine common English idioms that Shakespeare made famous. For each one, you’ll learn: which play it comes from what it meant 400 years ago what it means today how to use it in a natural sentence Idioms in this episode: Break the ice A wild-goose chase The green-eyed monster In a pickle A heart of gold The be-all and end-all A foregone conclusion Fair play Your own flesh and blood Some of these phrases still mean exactly what they meant in Shakespeare’s time. Others have changed completely. At the end of the episode, test yourself with a short “Then or Now?” quiz. Your challenge this week: use two of these idioms in a conversation or in your writing. If you’d like to practice them out loud, book a lesson with me and we’ll use them together! Level: Intermediate to Advanced (B1–C1) Topics: idioms, vocabulary, word origins, Shakespeare If you’re not offering lessons on italki, you can drop the “book a lesson” line. If you want to swap the level, B1–C1 fits since the episode explains everything clearly but uses natural, native-speed English.