"Bated breath." As in a-bated. Image is of a person holding their breath in suspense, not putting a worm on their tongue or something. Though I'm sure Shakespeare could have had fun with that idea.
Sadly, I see this misspelling constantly. Which shows the idea behind the phrase has been forgotten. Same with "toe the line," now commonly written as "tow the line." The original, from Navy sailors lining up in ranks along a deck seam, conveyed obedience. Its garbled form has no traceable meaning.
Its "garbled" form has meaning from barges, where horses or sometimes people would be engaged to "grab the line and make a tow", or simply "tow the line", in order to free the barge from either a shallow stretch or a run-in with the river bank.
In this form, it's more active than "toe the line".
I'm always curious whether "Shakespeare coined this phrase" just means "His writing is the earliest surviving text where this phrase has been spotted". Maybe some of these were common at the time but Shakespeare's texts are the only glimpse we have of them. Even so, his plays are how WE know them!
Comments
We do own him one for "Kissing" though (Love's Labour's Lost, Act 5 Scene 2.)
In this form, it's more active than "toe the line".
But me no "buts"!
And SO MUCH MORE:
https://theactorspad.com/youre-quoting-shakespeare-every-day-rob-brydon/
Dick the Butcher
Thank you for this
Seems appropriate re Trump & UK PM