fool, you

   A common insult since the seventeenth century, perhaps used with more insulting contempt now than then. In Shakespeare’s time ‘fool’, ‘poor fool’, and the like could be used on occasion as terms of endearment or genuine pity. In modern times ‘you fool’ can of course be turned into an endearment between intimates by being uttered in a light-hearted way, but it is more likely to be said with genuine anger. It is frequently expanded as ‘you bloody fool’ (passim), ‘you stupid fool’, as in Dandelion Days, by Henry Williamson, where ‘you damn fool’ also occurs. ‘You blabbing fool’ occurs in Dover One, by Joyce Porter; ‘you pale staring fool’ is in Scenes of Clerical Life, by George Eliot.

   The term was originally used of natural simpletons, but was transferred to those who acted foolishly on particular occasions. Shakespeare often features in his plays the professional fools of former times, who -were attached to royal and noble households as jesters. Shakespeare portrays the fool in Lear, for example, as an intelligent, sensitive, loving, and faithful young man, but in real life the professional fools must often have been of deficient intelligence. ‘Fool’ is very frequent as a vocative in Shakespeare, used insultingly, professionally, or more gently.

   Some indication of its use in modern times in English-speaking countries is given by the occurrences in fifty novels, selected randomly, but all published since 1950 and with contemporary settings. ‘You fool’ occurred fifteen times, ‘you bloody fool’ ten times. To these may be added ‘fool’ (twice), ‘stupid fool’ (once), ‘you couple of old fools’ (once), ‘you decrepit old fool’ (once), ‘you fools’ (once), ‘you girt fool’ (once), ‘you girt silly fool’ (once), ‘you little fool’ (once), ‘you stupid fool’ (once).