Willie Wigglestick

“If music be the food of love, play on. . .” Those words from Twelfth Night, written by some obscure British hack writer named Willie Wigglestick, were wandering through my mind this week. I blame my youngest son, who will soon become the second of my offspring to take a school field trip to hear the lines that follow that one at the Stratford Festival.

2001 September 29, Alan Ferris, “Paradise by the Dashboard Light, now that was music”, in Guelph Mercury, volume 134, number 87, Guelph, Ont., →ISSN, →OCLC, page B1, column 1

King Dickie was steedless, of course, / And searched through his pockets with force, / For trade goods. Bill* states: / He found only Mates:** / "My condom" he cried, "for a horse."

2005 June 14, Tiddy Ogg, “Sweet Sioux”, in alt.jokes.limericks (Usenet), archived from the original on 15 Mar 2026

The MW D of EU offers the following under "there is, there are": "For instance, when a compound subject follows the verb and the first element is singular, we find mixed usage--the verb may either be singular or plural." The passage does go on to cite people who have done such things, including Willie Wigglestick, and offers that "Bryant 1962 cites studies that show the singular verb is much more common in standard English."

2006 December 10, TakenEvent, “"There is a bowl of food and a spoon"”, in alt.usage.english (Usenet), archived from the original on 15 Mar 2026