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Something is rotten in the state of Denmark

A line from the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. An officer of the palace guard says this after the ghost of the dead king appears, walking over the palace walls.

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You may have read the word "simmer" in a recipe or two, but what does it really mean?
To cook in water that begins cold and then reaches a boil.
To stew in a sauce for a long time.
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notes for Something is rotten in the state of Denmark

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” is used to describe corruption or a situation in which something is wrong.

Words nearby Something is rotten in the state of Denmark

somesthesia, something, something else, something else again, something in the wind, Something is rotten in the state of Denmark, something like, something of a, something or other, something tells me, sometime
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.