An earlier version of this article was published in 2010. I’ve updated a link, and the insult generator still works!

Listen, thou fobbing clapper-clawed clotpole! The internet is useful for more things than mere facts. Take the Shakespearian Insult Generator for example. This does exactly what it says on the tin, and generates Shakespearian insults at random.

Usefully, most insults cite the source – most, but not all, leading me to think that some of them are invented, made up from Shakespearian-era words.

I have no idea what some of the terms mean, and hope that any I use are not actually obscene. That possibility aside, it’s all good fun, and goes to show there’s more to internet-based research than cross-checking references.