“have an obligation to pay” The “paying back” senses of this word did exist in Elizabethan English. “One time will owe another”, says Menenius to Coriolanus (Coriolanus, III.i.241), meaning “repay, compensate”. But most Shakespearean instances have a different sense: “own, possess, have”. Olivia says to herself “ourselves we do not owe” - we cannot control our emotions (Twelfth Night, I.v.300). And Lear asks Burgundy whether he will take Cordelia “with those infirmities she owes” (King Lear, I.i.202). The danger of misreading is strongest when the subject-matter is financial or vengeful. “I am not worthy of the wealth I owe”, says Helena to Bertram (All’s Well That Ends Well, II.v.79). “I oweMy revenge properly”, says Coriolanus to Menenius (Coriolanus, V.ii.79). And there is wordplay when King Philip says to Hubert, “pay that duty which you truly oweTo him that owes it” (King John, II.i.248 ). Here the first use is modern; the second isn’t.

David Crystal is author, with Ben Crystal, of Shakespeare’s Words, published by Penguin