“What the heck, Shakespeare? Why couldn’t you just talk in normal English instead of Shakespeare-speak?” Well, in his time and place, Shakespeare was speaking in normal English. His plays were written to be understood by the Queen and the peasants alike. So, he made sure that the jokes were common ones and that the language was totally normal for everyone at that time. He didn’t make it hard; our language just evolved. Think about it: if you sent Shakespeare a text message, like “OMG! R&J = so L. J/K loved it. g2g,” he would be beyond confused. He’d have to work pretty hard to make each piece of that text as obvious as “Eggs.”