[Ads-l] Inquiry about template in Shakespeare: X me no x's

[Rich Lowenthal]

Other early citations are in "But Me no Buts" by A.C. Potter,  Modern 
Language Notes (Vol. 30, No. 5, May 1915), and "But Me no Buts" by C.B. 
Cooper, Modern Language Notes (Vol. 31, No. 5, May 1916). The earliest 
citation appears to be from the anonymous play "Common Conditions" 
(1576): "Tinkers? (quod you) tinke me no tinkes."

Links at
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2915870

and

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2915634




------ Original Message ------
>From "ADSGarson O'Toole" 
<00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
To ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Date 10/16/2026 12:13:10 AM
Subject Re: Inquiry about template in Shakespeare: X me no x's

>Wonderful! Thanks, Jesse. The appendix lists two citations before the
>Shakespeare citations.
>
>[Begin excerpt]
>APPENDIX: SOME SAMPLES OF X ME NO X'S
>
>1590, George Peele, The Old Wives Tale, l. 481.
>S1: What, would you have us to bury him, and to answer it ourselves to
>the parish?
>S2: Parish me no parishes!
>
>1591, The Lamentable ... Tragedie of M. Arden of Feversham, l. 767.
>S1: I will lay the platforme [plan] of his death.
>S2: Plat me no platformes.
>
>1595, William Shakespeare, Richard II, II.iii.87.
>S1: My gracious uncle—
>S2: Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle.
>
>1595, William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, III.v.152.
>S1: Proud can I never be of what I hate, / But thankful even for hate
>that is meant for love.
>S2: Thank me no thankings, nor proud me no prouds....
>
>...
>The dates cited here are generally those assigned in Harbage and Schoen-
>baum (1964), but it should be understood that some of these as well as others
>are approximations
>[End excerpt]
>
>Garson
>
>On Thu, Oct 15, 2026 at 10:06 PM Jesse Sheidlower <jester at panix.com> wrote:
>>
>>  See Dale B. J. Randall, "X Me No X's: Some Examples (Mainly from the Renaissance) of the Neologizing Imperative Retort", _American Speech_ Vol. 64, No. 3 (Autumn, 1989), pp. 233-243.
>>
>>  https://www.jstor.org/stable/455591
>>
>>  Jesse Sheidlower
>>
>>  On Thu, Oct 15, 2026 at 09:36:14PM -0400, ADSGarson O'Toole wrote:
>>  > I received an interesting inquiry about a template employed by William
>>  > Shakespeare. Is anyone familiar with this template? Are there examples
>>  > before Shakespeare's works?
>>  >
>>  > [Begin request sent to Garson]
>>  > I am trying to determine the origin of the phrase type "x me no
>>  > x's"--for example, "riddle me no riddles."
>>  >
>>  > I have found two instances in Shakespeare, one in Romeo and Juliet:
>>  > "Thank me no thanking, nor proud me no proud."--and one in Richard II:
>>  > "Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle." Interesting, that both are
>>  > double, and both use singular nouns. So you see, I've done a little of
>>  > the work myself.
>>  >
>>  > But can you think of any earlier versions?
>>  > [End request sent to Garson]
>>  >
>>  > I did not find anything pertinent when I performed a quick search in
>>  > Early English Books Online, but the search was incomplete.
>>  >
>>  > Thanks for any help,
>>  > Garson O'Toole
>>  >
>>  > ------------------------------------------------------------
>>  > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
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