不問是不是就問為什麼。
首先，莎士比亞並不是憑一己之力創造眾多英文詞彙的。莎士比亞所處的中世紀，正是英語文字開始普及的時期，語言文字不再是少數上層階級和教會人士的專利。這種普及，和當時的劇院文化是息息相關的。
在當時，劇院承載了一個非常重要的作用，就是讓老百姓多學點英語詞彙。還沒上升到弘揚文化、創造藝術的高度，連「識字」都談不上，僅僅是「學説普通話」。女王非常鼓勵老百姓走進劇院去學説話，而莎士比亞是當時最有名的戲劇創作者，老百姓自然會從莎士比亞那裏學到不少自己從沒聽過的詞。並非「創造」，而是「普及」。但事後各種傳言，都把這部分老百姓新學的詞彙算作莎士比亞的功勞，多少把這個故事神話了。
其次，莎士比亞的造詞大多不是重新發明，主要是通過詞類活用、加前綴後綴，整理方言等方式，讓語言更加豐富。他特別擅長用比喻，把一些普通詞變成「流行詞彙」，使之有了新的意義和用法。莎翁還愛寫葷段子，這葷段子闖進腦洞，各種詞彙聯想，根本停不下來。
啊，莎士比亞!
他是人類文學史奧林匹克山上的宙斯，
也是世界戲劇史眾人朝聖的無冕帝王;
他是市井生活中滴滴答答的鹹濕大叔，
也是橫跨四百年口吐蓮花的相聲藝人。
是的，你沒有看錯，莎翁愛寫葷段子。莎士比亞的形象對於中國讀者來説，的確是被「戲劇就是高雅藝術」的大帽子給帶偏了。再加上翻譯的刪減和各種審批制度，我們是無法在中文裏讀到原汁原味的莎士比亞的。
但凡是人民大眾特別喜愛的舞台表演，自古以來就離不開葷段子。不僅如此，據考證，當時是「鼓勵」大家説葷段子的。這些葷段子不光迎合下層階級口味，上層人士也不甘示弱，就連女王的繼承人詹姆斯一世也是歷史上著名的葷派段子手。很多達官貴人也是色情業的後台大 boss，當時倫敦最有名的妓院幾乎都是皇親國戚開的。一般開妓院的老闆同時也會開劇院。社會風氣大概如此，情色戲劇不分家。
而莎士比亞是葷段子界的佼佼者，語言豐富，善用修辭，在詞彙創造上開拓了不少新思路。現代莎劇學者通過對各個版本劇本的研究，尤其通過英語語言語源的研究，逐漸發現莎士比亞戲劇中充斥着大量的「Sexual Puns」(與性有關的雙關語)。
比如《羅密歐與朱麗葉》第二幕第一場中，羅密歐 EX 的台詞，中文版的經典翻譯是這樣的：「愛情如果是盲目的，就射不中靶。此刻他該坐在枇杷樹下，希望他的情人就是他口中的枇杷。啊羅密歐，但願她真的成了你到口的枇杷。」
原台詞：If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark. Now will he sit under a medlars tree, and wish his mistress were that kind of fruit as maids call medlars when they laugh alone. Romeo, that she were, O, that she were an open arse, thou a poperin pear!
現在我們根據莎士比亞時期的英語來理解下台詞。
這裏沒有枇杷，而是另一種叫「medlar」的水果。「arse」是屁股的意思。由於「medlar」長得像屁股，所以被稱為「open arse」。「poperin」是地名，那裏盛產一種梨子叫「poperin pear」，據説在特定時期長得特別像男性生殖器。至於 O，大家也可以順其發揮下。
然後，莎士比亞時代的劇場沒有我們現代的聲、光、電等舞美特效，説是「看戲」其實是以聽為主。16 世紀的戲劇最主要的藝術手段是「台詞上面耍花招」。比如「poperin pear」，拆分下就變成「popp’rin’ pear」，再把個別音重讀，聽上去幾乎可以等於「pop in her」(猛然進入她)。
這段台詞是羅密歐的 EX 説的，此時羅密歐翻牆到別的情人家花園裏去了，風流得不行，還有專門的情人朋友圈，EX 在牆外咒罵，於是有了這句台詞。
如果根據上文中 EX 的情緒重新把原台詞進行翻譯，應該是這樣的(四川話版)：你個龜兒子的羅密歐，你這會兒正在 medlars 樹下翻雲覆雨哇。有本事你就 pop in her 三!她就是 medlars，就是 O，就是 open arse;你就是 poperin pear!你娃天到黑在外面打起愛情的名義找情人嘛，這盤是不是真愛?有本事 pop in her ， pop in her 三，你要是 #￥%&* XXX #￥~射得準，我就認了，你們就是真愛無敵。不過我賭你娃眼瞎射不準。
據英國編劇、莎劇研究專家 Pauline Kiernan 統計，莎士比亞作品中涉及女性身體私處的雙關語大概有 180 種，事關男性生殖器的雙關語有 200 種以上，此外另有 700 多種涉及其他淫穢含義的雙關語句。莎士比亞不僅從倫敦南岸居民那裏學習詞彙，他自己也非常善於創造詞彙。據統計，莎劇中詞彙超過 29000 個，而近日一名英國大學畢業生在寫作中使用的詞彙不過 3000—4000 個。當時觀眾們不僅可以在他那裏找樂子，還可以學習最時髦的葷段子。一齣劇院，拐進個小酒館，脱口就是個新學的段子，倍兒有的面子。
當然，莎士比亞並非為寫葷段子而故意用這些詞。更多時候是為了塑造人物的性格。
在《哈姆雷特》裏，哈姆雷特這位憂鬱王子最痛恨的就是他那淫蕩的母親，居然跟殺父仇人交媾。他曾對前女友説過這樣一段話：
Get thee to a nunnery: why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? We are arrantknaves, all; believe none of us. Go thy ways to a nunnery.
Get thee to a nunnery, go: farewell. Or, if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool;for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them. To a nunnery, go and quickly too. Farewell.
去修道院吧，你何必去懷上一堆罪人的種子，我們全是一幫徹頭徹尾的混蛋，別信我們的，去修道院吧。
去修道院吧，去吧，再會。你如果一定想嫁人。嫁個傻瓜好了，聰明人都知道你會讓他們變成怎樣的一個怪物，去修道院吧，去，越快越好，再會。
如果單從字面理解，王子是勸他女朋友去修道院，以便脱離宮廷這塊罪孽深重的地方。然而這個地方也存在一個雙關語。有莎劇專家們認為「修道院」(nunnery)這個詞也指「妓院」(1503 年版本的牛津英語詞典如此註釋)。而「go and quickly」(去，越快越好)的「quickly」在當時的莎劇裏應該讀成「quick-lay」(快躺下)，帶有明顯的性意味。在雙關的語境下，王子此事內心憤懣怨恨的一面呈現了出來：要麼你去修道院，要麼你可以(像他淫蕩的母后那樣)去當妓女。莎士比亞通過這種説話方式來表現哈姆雷特病態的雙面性格。
哈姆雷特和女友奧菲利亞有這樣一段對話：
哈姆雷特：Lady, shall I lie in your lap? 小姐，我能躺你大腿上不?
奧菲利亞：No, my lord. 不，殿下。
哈姆雷特：I mean, my head upon your lap? 我是説，能不能把頭枕在你腿上?
奧菲利亞：Ay, my lord. 恩，殿下。
哈姆雷特：Do you think I meant country matters? 你覺得我想説的是那些鄉村野外的事?
奧菲利亞：I think nothing, my lord. 我倒沒有想到，殿下。
哈姆雷特：That’s a fair thought to lie between maids’ leg. 睡在姑娘的大腿中間想想真是有趣。
奧菲利亞：What is, my lord. 什麼，殿下。
哈姆雷特：Nothing. 沒什麼。
奧菲利亞：You are merry, my lord. 你真開心。
這段看似普通的對話卻是當時莎劇裏最爆棚的笑點。Why?
同樣我們按照當時莎士比亞的英語方式解析下：
當時扮演奧菲利亞的是一位男演員，反串。
明白幾個知識點再回去讀剛才那段台詞 。
1、 Lap，大腿，在當時還有女性私處的意思。哈姆雷特與奧菲利亞關於躺大腿這段對話顯然是一種放肆的「性騷擾」。少女似乎不明白王子語言不莊，用白痴的語氣回答説「不，殿下。」於是，王子強調指出：我的意思是把我的「頭」放在你的 lap 上，少女貌似仍然搞不清狀況，不過觀眾已經明白，這裏的「頭」肯定不是脖子上那個大頭了。
2、 Country matter. 前面講當時莎劇最喜歡在台詞上耍花招，這裏 country 前半部要重讀，讀作 COUNT-ry。所以，這不是一個 country matter，而是 count matter，count，女性私處。
3、 Nothing，什麼都沒有。也指女性兩腿間的部分，什麼都沒有。
研究莎劇的專家認為，這種雙關語的喜好不僅出於「葷段子」時尚，也因為時人對一種新近發現的語言功能的熱衷。莎劇中的大量詞彙其實是屬於這一部分的，在今天已經幾乎不用了。
總結下來，以上莎翁的造詞主要有這樣幾類：
因為普及語言而把功勞算在他頭上的。很多是常用詞彙。
整理方言、古籍，甚至醫學、天文書籍時發現的。主要是一些專有名詞，比如國王、王后皇冠上都使用了同一種寶石，但叫法卻不一樣。他還把一些星星的命名用作人名，使之傳播出來。
利用比喻、雙關語等修辭賦予詞語新的意義的。
把名詞變成動詞、動詞變成形容詞的;把單獨兩個詞連起來的;添加前綴後綴的。這是最主要的部分。
最後，才是由莎士比亞原創的詞。
有興趣的朋友可以點這裏：Words Shakespeare Invented
每個詞點進去都有對應的劇目。
【拓展閲讀】最常見的 20 個莎士比亞造詞：
20 Words We Owe to William Shakespeare
1. ADDICTION: OTHELLO, ACT II, SCENE II
「It is Othello's pleasure, our noble and valiant general, that, upon certain tidings now arrived, importing the mere perdition of the Turkish fleet, every man put himself into triumph; some to dance, some to make bonfires, each man to what sport and revels his addiction leads him.」 – Herald
If not for that noble and valiant general and his playwright, our celebrity news coverage might be sorely lacking.
2. ARCH-VILLAIN: TIMON OF ATHENS, ACT V, SCENE I
「You that way and you this, but two in company; each man apart, all single and alone, yet an arch-villain keeps him company.」 – Timon
With the added prefix of arch-, meaning more extreme than others of the same type, Shakespeare was able to distinguish the baddest of the bad.
3. ASSASSINATION: MACBETH, ACT I, SCENE VII
「If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly: if theassassination could trammel up the consequence, and catch with his surcease success.」– Macbeth
Though the term “assassin” had been observed in use prior to the Scottish play, it seems apt that the work introduced yet another term for murder most foul.
4. BEDAZZLED: THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, ACT IV, SCENE V
「Pardon, old father, my mistaking eyes, that have been so bedazzledwith the sun that everything I look on seemeth green.」– Katherina
A word first used to describe the particular gleam of sunlight is now used to sell rhinestone-embellished jeans. Maybe poetry really is dead.
5. BELONGINGS: MEASURE FOR MEASURE, ACT I, SCENE I
「Thyself and thy belongings are not thine own so proper as to waste thyself upon thy virtues, they on thee.」– Duke Vincentio
People prior to Shakespeare’s time did own things; they just referred to them by different words.
6. COLD-BLOODED: KING JOHN, ACT III, SCENE I
「Thou cold-blooded slave, hast thou not spoke like thunder on my side, been sworn my soldier, bidding me depend upon thy stars, thy fortune and thy strength, and dost thou now fall over to my fores?」 – Constance
Beyond its literal meaning, the 17th-century play initiated a metaphorical use for the term that is now most often used to describe serial killers and vampires—two categories which, of course, need not be mutually exclusive.
7. DISHEARTEN: HENRY V, ACT IV, SCENE I
「Therefore when he sees reason of fears, as we do, his fears, out of doubt, be of the same relish as ours are: yet, in reason, no man should possess him with any appearance of fear, lest he, by showing it, shoulddishearten his army.」 – King Henry V
The opposite of 「hearten」, a word already extant at the time of Shakespeare’s writing, 「dishearten」 was most appropriately first utilized in print by King Henry V, who didn’t let insurmountable odds at the Battle of Agincourt get him down.
8. EVENTFUL: AS YOU LIKE IT, ACT II, SCENE VII
「Last scene of all, that ends this strange eventful history, is second childishness and mere oblivion, sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.」- Jaques
If all the world’s a stage, it’s safe to assume that an event or two is taking place.
9. EYEBALL: THE TEMPEST, ACT I, SCENE II
「Go make thyself like a nymph o' the sea: be subject to no sight but thine and mine, invisible to every eyeball else.」 – Prospero
Shakespeare’s protagonist Prospero, though no medical doctor, can claim to be the first fictional character to name those round objects with which we see.
10. FASHIONABLE: TROILUS AND CRESSIDA, ACT III, SCENE III
「For time is like a fashionable host that slightly shakes his parting guest by the hand, and with his arms outstretch'd, as he would fly, grasps in the comer: welcome ever smiles, and farewell goes out sighing.」 – Ulysses
And with just 11 letters, centuries of debate over what’s hot or not began.
11. HALF-BLOODED/HOT-BLOODED: KING LEAR, ACT V, SCENE III/ ACT III, SCENE III
「Half-blooded fellow, yes.」 – Albany
「Why, the hot-blooded France, that dowerless took our youngest born, I could as well be brought to knee his throne, and, squire-like; pension beg to keep base life afoot.」– Lear
As is the tradition in Shakespearean tragedy, nearly everyone in King Lear dies, so the linguistic fascination here with blood is unsurprising, to say the least.
12. INAUDIBLE: ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, ACT V, SCENE III
「Let's take the instant by the forward top; for we are old, and on our quick'st decrees the inaudible and noiseless foot of Time steals ere we can effect them.」 – King of France
One of a number of words (invulnerable, indistinguishable, inauspicious, among others) which Shakespeare invented only in the sense of adding a negative in- prefix where it had never been before.
13. LADYBIRD: ROMEO AND JULIET, ACT I, SCENE III
「What, lamb! What, ladybird! God forbid! Where's this girl? What, Juliet!」– Nurse
Although the Oxford English Dictionary notes that this particular term of endearment has fallen into disuse, maybe it’s about time for its comeback. Valentine’s Day is coming up, after all.
14. MANAGER: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, ACT V, SCENE I
「Where is our usual manager of mirth? What revels are in hand? Is there no play to ease the anguish of a torturing hour?」– King Theseus
If not for Shakespeare, workday complaining in the office break room just wouldn’t be the same.
15. MULTITUDINOUS: MACBETH, ACT II, SCENE II
「No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas in incarnadine, making the green one red.」– Macbeth
「Multitudinous」may not be the most appropriate synonym when the phrase “a lot” starts to crop up too often in your writing, but it’s certainly the one with the most letters.
16. NEW-FANGLED: LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST, ACT I, SCENE I
「At Christmas I no more desire a rose than wish a snow in May's new-fangled mirth.」– Biron
Ironically, this word sounds old-fashioned if used today.
17. PAGEANTRY: PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE, ACT V, SCENE II
「This, my last boon, give me, for such kindness must relieve me, that you aptly will suppose what pageantry, what feats, what shows, what minstrelsy, and pretty din, the regent made in Mytilene to greet the king.」– Gower
Although modern scholars generally agree that Shakespeare only appears to have written the second half of the play, this newly invented term for an extravagant ceremonial display appears in the section definitively authored by the Bard.
18. SCUFFLE: ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, ACT I, SCENE I
「His captain's heart, which in the scuffles of great fights hath burst the buckles on his breast, reneges all temper, and is become the bellows and the fan to cool a gipsy's lust.」– Philo
Another example of an existing verb that Shakespeare decided could stand up just as well as a noun.
19. SWAGGER: HENRY V, ACT II, SCENE IV/A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, ACT III, SCENE I
「An't please your majesty, a rascal that swaggered with me last night.」– Williams
「What hempen home-spuns have we swaggering here, so near the cradle of the fairy queen?」– Puck
By transitive property, Shakespeare is responsible for Justin Bieber’s 「swag」.
20. UNCOMFORTABLE: ROMEO AND JULIET, ACT IV, SCENE V
「Despised, distressed, hated, martyr'd, kill'd! Uncomfortable time, why camest thou now to murder, murder our solemnity?」 - Capulet
Un- was another prefix Shakespeare appended to adjectives with a liberal hand. In the case of Romeo and Juliet, a tragedy in which a father mourns his daughter’s suicide, “uncomfortable” seems to have originated with a slightly more drastic sense than how we use it now.
參考文獻：
李道增《西方劇場史(下冊)》，清華大學出版社，1999
《莎士比亞全集》，朱生豪譯，譯林出版社，1998
小白《好色的哈姆雷特》，上海譯文出版社，2013