Note to Much Ado About Nothing, 3.5.34: "when the age is in, the wit is out:"


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Much Ado About Nothing,
Act 3, Scene 5, lines 34.
when the age is in, the wit is out: Dogberry is misquoting the proverb, "When ale is in, wit is out." —The humorous irony of the whole speech is that witless Dogberry keeps apologizing for the feeble wit of old Verges.