USENET Oracularity #602-07
The Usenet Oracle has pondered your question deeply.
Your question was:
> Oh omniscient one who knows whether Francis Bacon really wrote all
> of Shakespeare’s plays but who’s not telling,
>
> I don’t get the line in Macbeth where the witch asks, “When
> shall we three meet again, in thunder, lightning, or in rain?”
> If there’s thunder, isn’t there lightning? And if there’s either of
> those, isn’t there usually rain? I mean, it’s hard to imagine Witch #2
> saying, “Oh, let’s meet in thunder, we met in lightning last time.”
>
> Anyway, if Shakespeare is such a genius, the question must mean
> something, so what does it mean?
And in response, thus spake the Oracle:
} (Nice to see that there’s SOMEBODY out there not obsessed with UNIX
} and Lisa…)
}
} Witches, naturally, have a language all their own. “Meeting in
} thunder” means “Banding together to do some serious cursing.”
} “Meeting in lightning” means “Just popping in for a quick cuppa” and
} “Meeting in rain” means a trip to the pub for a few dozen pints. By
} the way, “eye of newt” is code for “pickled onion” and “wing of bat”
} is “cuttings from an old saddle.”
}
} The full translation of the dialog of the witches of the Scottish Play
} reveals they are plotting to place a basket of goat giblets on the
} throne and quintuple the tax on polydactylity. From this we may infer
} that Shakespere was a little foggy on witchspeak, but we may forgive
} him for this.
}
} You owe the Oracle an autographed copy of Wyrd Sisters.