Shakespearean Insults

Directions: Have students line up in two “red rover” lines (Line A, Line B), facing each other across the classroom.  Give each of them a copy of this sheet, and instruct the first person in Line A to step forward, address the first person in Line B, and deliver an insult by combining one word or phrase from each of the columns below and adding “Thou" to the beginningThen, have the first person in Line B (who has stepped forward to receive the insult) return the favor by insulting back (again, choosing one word from each column).  Work down the two red-rover lines, giving each student a chance to insult his/her counterpart in the opposite line, with the recipients responding with insults of their own.

A typical exchange:

Line A, person # 1, to Line B, person #1: “Thou peevish, dog-hearted whipster!”
(everybody laughs)
Line B person’s response: “Thou purpled, shag-eared cutpurse!”
(everybody laughs)
Line A, person #2, to Line B, person #2: “Thou distempered onion-eyed nut-hook!”
Line B person’s response: “Thou hideous mad-bread rabbit-sucker!”

And so on--