etymology - What is the meaning and origin of the common phrase "the world is your oyster"?


What does the world is your oyster mean, and where does it come from?



Answer



"The world is your oyster" is a quote from Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor:



Falstaff: I will not lend thee a penny.


Pistol: Why then the world's mine oyster, Which I with sword will open.


Falstaff: Not a penny.



The original implication of the phrase is that Pistol is going to use violent means (sword) to steal his fortune (the pearl one finds in an oyster).


We inherit the phrase, absent its original violent connotation, to mean that the world is ours to enjoy.


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