Shakespearean Insult Kit
For "Impertinent fool-born gudgeons" everywhere
Go to this site for insults:
Shakespearean Insult Kit - Writers Write
A few sources:
Crystal, David. ’Think on My Words’ : Exploring Shakespeare’s Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Guéron, Claire. “Nathalie Vienne-Guerrin. The Anatomy of Insults in Shakespeare’s World.” Miranda 28, no. 28 (2023).
Price, Michael W. “"Thou Elvish-Mark’d, Abortive, Rooting Hog’’:1 Unfriendly Verbal Insults in Richard III.” Journal of the Wooden O Symposium 2 (2002)
Here is another source that I've had on my bookshelf since 1995: Wayne F. Hill and Cynthia J. Öttchen, Shakespeare's Insults: Educating Your Wit (Crown Trade Paperbacks, 1995). It lists the insults in each play, providing act, scene, and line, then offers 20 pages of "ready insults for particular occasions" categorized by type of jibe or slur ("foul emanations," "boors and bores") and easily accessible for consulting whenever some coxcomb arouses your scorn.
“The bolting-hutch of beastliness, that swollen parcel of dropsies, that huge bombard of sack, that stuffed cloak-bag guts, that roasted Manningtree ox with pudding in his belly.”
Few things are as hilarious as Prince Hal cracking on Falstaff, and I believe the fat man scored some points himself.
Henry IV is a comedy classic!