Chrysti The Wordsmith: The World Is Your Oyster

Greetings This is Christie the wordsmith. The world is my oyster is shorthand for the world with all its riches lies before me. The expression implies that accomplishment and profit may be generated in one's world as easily as a valuable pearl is extracted from an oyster. William Shakespeare is credited with coining this phrase in his comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor. Written in sixteen hundred. The scene is a lively dialogue between two rogues Falstaff and pistol pistol in need of finances. Asks Falstaff for a loan. Falstaff answers. I will not lend the penny to which pistol replies. Why then the world is mine oyster which I with sword will open and that declaration pistol threatens to resort to robbery to use his sword to pry open his victim's purses to extract the money or the pearl inside. So Shakespeare cast a slightly sinister hue on this phrase when he created the scene between the two Russians. The tenor of this expression has

changed a bit over the centuries. It now encourages us to take risks and be bold though not necessarily to steal. In our quest for fulfillment Shakespeare's phrase is now the name of a website. The world is your oyster dot com an online travel and tour service that promises adventure excitement and educational opportunities through world travel. I'm Kristie the wordsmith Christie the wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.