If you waited with bated breath last week for the Ides of March to pass, you can thank Shakespeare. We already told you that he gets the credit for the lasting power of the Ides of March as a bad omen. He's also responsible for keeping bait's homophone "bate" around in another enduring phrase.

We don't use "bate" very much anymore, but it came about in the 1300s to mean "to diminish" (and yes, its origins are tied to a shorter version of "abate," which is still commonly used today). Shakespeare used the phrase "bated breath" in his play "The Merchant of Venice." It can indicate anxiousness or excitement — a shallow or diminished breath. The phrase has stuck around even if regular use of "bate" hasn't.

"Bait," meanwhile, also emerged in the 1300s and remains in common usage today. Combine that with the fact that we often use "bated breath" in the phrase "waited with bated breath," and it's easy to see how "baited breath" is a common eggcorn.

We can't blame Shakespeare for that bit of confusion, though. In "The Merchant of Venice," he wrote, "With bated breath and whispering humbleness."

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