![\"Liz](\"http:\/\/www.bmj.com\/site\/blog\/icons\/lizwager.jpg\")
I love the fact that many words have multiple meanings. This multiplicity sometimes sets up strange resonances or odd mental images, especially if you pick the wrong meaning initially.\nThe other day I was running a publication workshop and talking about tables and figures, when I got horribly tangled up by the fact that figures can mean either numbers or illustrations. My subconscious was clearly still brooding over my confusion as I read a sonnet (later in bed, I hasten to add, not during the workshop) and wondered what Shakespeare meant by the lines “Return forgetful Muse, and straight redeem, In gentle numbers, time so idly spent.” Surely, I thought, Shakespeare wasn\u2019t thinking about songs (as in “opening numbers”)? That sounded like a much later usage. And it didn\u2019t make sense if he was talking about arithmetical figures. The dictionary came to my rescue, reminding me that numbers could also mean “metrical periods of feet, hence lines, verse” (with the first recorded use in 1588 which sounds as if it might have been Shakespeare himself).\u00a0<\/p>\n