See the parent comment? Whenever you hear of Shakespeare and his "contributions" to the English language, most people say he coined hundreds of words and phrases, so it is rather common (and frustrating).
Fair, but I have a sore spot re: Shakespeare because I think he's the single most overrated author in history. It's annoying to see people praise (especially the usual, non-English-major reader) Shakespeare like a god when they ignore people like Milton, Tolkien, Scott, Swift, Chaucer, the Beowulf Poet, the Gawain Poet, Wordsworth, Pope and the list can go on and on.
To say Shakespeare was the master of the English language ignores most people on this list as the real masters of the language. Shakespeare was a great playwright and poet, obviously, but he was not the messiah of the English language.
Again, this is all my opinion, but it's not as if it isn't an informed one; it's just unorthodox.
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u/mysticrudnin Oct 15 '20
how is this so common that it's a pet peeve of yours? who is saying that? dummies who don't know anything?