the lady doth protest too much

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From the quotation "The lady doth protest too much, methinks." from Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act III, scene II, where it is spoken by Queen Gertrude, Hamlet's mother.

Phrase

the lady doth protest too much

It is suspected that, because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite of what he or she is saying must be true.
- 1897, Samuel Butler, The Authoress of the Odyssey:
  In all Penelope's devotion to her husband there is an ever present sense that the lady doth protest too much.

Derived terms

protest too much

Translations

because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true

Arabic: السَّيِّدَة تَعْتَرِضُ أَكْثَر مِن اللَّازِم‎ (as-sayyida(t) taʿtariḍu ʾakṯar min al-lāzim)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 此地無銀三百兩 (zh), 此地无银三百两 (zh) (cǐdì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng)
Danish: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: hän vakuutteli mielestäni liiaksi
French: ^{(please verify)} la dame proteste un peu trop
Italian: ^{(please verify)} la signora si opponga un po' troppo

Portuguese: ^{(please verify)} a senhora protesta muito
Russian: ^{(please verify)} леди действительно слишком много выступает. (ledi dejstvitelʹno sliškom mnogo vystupajet.)
Serbo-Croatian: please add this translation if you can
Spanish: ^{(please verify)} la dama protesta mucho
Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can
Welsh: yr euog a ffy heb neb yn ei erlid

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.