# X me no Xs

X me no Xs is a literary device common in literature from the 16th to the 18th centuries, in which the speaker is asking that something not be provided to him, often as a pun incorporating the use of a particular word both as a verb and as a noun.

## Quotes

* But me no buts.
** Susanna Centlivre, The Busie Body (1709); Henry Fielding, Rape upon Rape (1730), act ii, scene 2. Also in Aaron Hill, Snake in the Grass, sc. 1.
* Cause me no causes.
** Philip Massinger, A New Way to Pay Old Debts (1625), act i, scene 3.
* Cook me no cooks.
** Felix Benguiat, Ugly Hilda (1909), p. 515.
* Clerk me no clerks.
** Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe (1819), chapter xx.
* Diamond me no diamonds! prize me no prizes!
** Alfred Tennyson, Idylls of the King (c. 1842–1885).
* End me no ends.
** Philip Massinger, A New Way to Pay Old Debts (1625), act v, scene 1.
* Fool me no fools.
** Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Last Days of Pompeii (1834), book iii, chapter vi.
* Front me no fronts.
** John Ford, The Lady's Trial (1638), act ii, scene 1.
* Gift me no Gifts; I have none for thee.
** Theocritus, The Idylls (c. 3rd century BC), translated by James Henry Hallard (1901), p. 104. Use of this literary device was likely introduced by the translator; an earlier translation by C.S. Calvery has the same character, Amycus, responding to Polydeuces' offer to "[v]isit our land, take gifts from us, and go" by saying "I seek naught from thee and can naught bestow".
* Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle.
** William Shakespeare, Richard II. (1595), act ii, scene 3.
* Madam me no madam.
** John Dryden, The Wild Gallant (1663), act ii, scene 2.
* Map me no maps.
** Henry Fielding, Rape upon Rape (1730), act i, scene 5.
* Midas me no Midas.
** John Dryden, The Wild Gallant (1663), act ii, scene 1.
* O me no O's.
** Ben Jonson, The Case Is Altered (c. 1609), act v, scene 1.
* Parish me no parishes.
** George Peele, The Old Wives' Tale (c. 1595).
* Petition me no petitions.
** Henry Fielding, Tom Thumb (1730), act i, scene 2.
* Play me no plays.
** Samuel Foote, The Knights (1748), act ii.
* Plot me no plots.
** Francis Beaumont, The Knight of the Burning Pestle (1611), act ii, scene 5.
* Poem me no poems.
** Rose Macaulay, quoted in Poetry Review (Autumn 1963).
* Thank me no thanks, nor proud me no prouds.
** William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (1597), act iii, scene 5.
* Tut me no tuts.
** James Thurber, The White Deer (1945), chapter 6, p. 89.
* Virgin me no virgins.
** Philip Massinger, A New Way to Pay Old Debts (1625), act iii, scene 2.
* Vow me no vows.
** Beaumont and Fletcher, Wit Without Money (1614), act iv, scene 4.
* Cody me no Codys about America.
** Jack Kerouac, Visions of Cody (1972), Part Three, p. 427.
* Tennessee me no Tennessees.
** Jack Kerouac, Visions of Cody (1972), Part Three, p. 427.

### Lyrics

* Matchmaker, matchmaker, plan me no plans. I'm in no rush. maybe I've learned Playing with matches a girl can get burned. So bring me no ring, groom me no groom, Find me no find, catch me no catch. Unless he's a matchless match!
** "Matchmaker", Fiddler on the Roof (1964). These lyrics appear at the end of the song, countering the protagonist's original (uninformed) plea that the matchmaker "find me a find, catch me a catch".

## External links

* The Snowclone Database: X me no Xs.