The protagonists of some of his most famous works had the benefit of some fine top drawer verbal abuse at their disposal. Now, one website pays tribute to Willie’s withering ways with a dedicated Shakespearean insulter which will automatically generate any number of put downs to be used freely on colleagues and enemies alike.

This is a resource to be savoured. Next time your car is clamped imagine the satisfaction you will derive from referring to the clampee as a “mewling minnow” or a “Spleeny brazen-faced coxcomb”.

Or, if your sibling is being bullied in the playground you could direct them to leave their aggressors dumbfounded by firing off a swift volley of Shakespeare’s best – “you fishified, odiferous, doghearted canker-blossom. The most infectious pestilence upon thee.”

And, rumour has it that Shakespeare’s final draft of Romeo and Juliet might have been radically different if it hadn’t endured some last minute judiscious editing. “Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo……you burly-boned lily-livered basket-cockle.”