If you prick us, do we not bleed?

[optimistic pessimist]

Dear all,

"If you prick me, do I not bleed? If you tickle me, do I not laugh? Of course I do."

I happened to see this sentence in in an article written by a modern scientist. In modrn English, I understand "If you prick me, don't I bleed?" is correct. Is it because the writer used this as a quote from "the Merchant of Venice" that he used the old-fashined form?

Thank you!

OP

 

[optimistic pessimist]

Dear all,

May I aske one more thing?

Do many British people know it's a quote from Shakespeare?

Thank you!

OP

 

[Tdol]

In modern English, I understand "If you prick me, don't I bleed?" is correct

The do I not bleed form is less common, but is still used and perfectly correct, at least in BrE. You will hear it used outside the world of Shakespeare quotes.

 

[Tdol]

Do many British people know it's a quote from Shakespeare?

It really depends on what you mean by many. A lot will recognise it as a quote, but I guess that they would be a sizeable minority of the overall population. Many of his quotes have become a standard part of the language and have ceased to be recognised as quotes.

 

[Eckaslike]

"If you prick me, do I not bleed?"

"If you prick me, don't I bleed?"

Even though they mean the same thing, I find that the one in old-fashioned English conveys that meaning in a far more powerful way because of the fact that "do" and "not" are used as separate words.

In a similar fashion to the following:

"Don't do that!" (Which is almost a throw-away line someone might say if mildly irritated.)

versus

"Do not do that!" (Which someone might say if they were extremely annoyed.)