Both Uses of
retort
in
As You Like It
- Upon a lie seven times removed;—bear your body more seeming, Audrey:—as thus, sir, I did dislike the cut of a certain courtier's beard; he sent me word, if I said his beard was not cut well, he was in the mind it was: this is called the Retort courteous.†
Scene 5.4retort = quickly reply
- The first, the Retort courteous; the second, the Quip modest; the third, the Reply churlish; the fourth, the Reproof valiant; the fifth, the Countercheck quarrelsome; the sixth, the Lie with circumstance; the seventh, the Lie direct.†
Scene 5.4 *
Definition:
a quick reply to a question or remark -- especially a witty or critical one