Lawrence Hall
Dispatches for the Colonial Office
LogoSophia Magazine – A Pilgrim's Journal of Life, Literature and Love
Laughing Stock
Pray you let us not be laughing‑stocks to other men’s humors
The Merry Wives of Windsor, III.i.87
But why do you say “laughing stock?”
What, in context, is a stock?
Is it a being capable of laughter?
How does a stock laugh?
Does it chuckle or chortle or bray?
Or is stock a thing people laugh at?
Are the stock’s feelings hurt?
Hey, everyone, look at the stock!
Did you ever see such a sad stock?
Be careful:
Someday a stock might take your place
At the cool kids’ table
And laugh at you
For writing “laughing stock”
