the 'Iceland dog' of line 44, the expression is merely a term of abuse without any precise application, and chosen for no particular reason, unless it be Pistol's artistic craving for variety.
II. i. 79. powdering-tub. Literally, a tub in which meat was salted. Here it is used to denote the hot bath which formed part of the treatment for certain diseases.
II. i. 80. kite of Cressid's hind. This expression appears to have been a stock phrase in the literature of the day. Both Gascoigne and Greene use it. Henryson's Testament of Cresseid had told of Cressid's transformation into a leperous beggar (lazar).
II. i. 86. thy face. Bardolph's fiery complexion is the subject of more than one jest in Henry IV. Fluellen supplies us with further information on the same subject in III. vi. 110 ff.
II. i. 124. quotidian tertian. Dame Pistol has been so pleased with the learned sound of these medical terms that she uses them without any knowledge of their meaning. As a result, she confuses the quotidian fever, in which the paroxysms recur daily, with the tertian, in which the interval of recurrence is three days.
II. i. 130. corroborate. Of course the literal meaning of this word is quite inappropriate here; but that need not trouble us, as it obviously did not trouble Pistol, who uses it merely because it is a big word.
II. i. 133. careers. A term used to designate galloping a horse at full speed, backward and forward. Probably 'passes some careers' is Nym's way of saying 'Gives a free rein to his whims.'
II. ii. 118. bade thee stand up. 'Commanded thee to rise and do his bidding,' as one might give orders to a servant who could be relied upon for unquestioning obedience. Possibly, like the word dub in line 120, this is an allusion to the formula used in conferring knighthood.
