with this slave's offal
Preserved but no longer current.
Hamlet ii 2 Pigeon pah*. Boy and girl twins. It was once supposed that pigeons always sit on two eggs which produce a male and a female, and these twin birds live together in love the rest of their lives.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “with this slave's offal” mean?
Hamlet ii 2 Pigeon pah*. Boy and girl twins. It was once supposed that pigeons always sit on two eggs which produce a male and a female, and these twin birds live together in love the rest of their lives.
Is “with this slave's offal” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.