Note to Romeo and Juliet, 2.4.30: "a very good whore"


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Romeo and Juliet,
Act 2, Scene 4, line 30.
a very good whore: i.e. an excellent son-of-a-bitch. Mercutio is mimicking tough-guy slang.

"A very good whore" is an example the ability of slang to reverse the meanings of derogatory words; current (November, 2014) examples of the same sort of thing are "bitchin'" and "sick."