17. [The weakest goes to the wall.] A familiar proverb.
28. [Here comes two,] etc. Halliwell-Phillipps remarks that the partisans of the Montagues wore a token in their hats to distinguish them from the Capulets; hence throughout the play they are known at a distance. Cf. Gascoigne, Devise of a Masque, written for Viscount Montacute, 1575:—
"And for a further proofe, he shewed in hys hat
Thys token which the Mountacutes did beare alwaies, for that
They covet to be knowne from Capels, where they pass,
For ancient grutch whych long ago 'tweene these two houses was."
39. [I will bite my thumb at them.] An insult explained by Cotgrave, Fr. Dict. (ed. 1632): "Nique, faire la nique, to threaten or defie, by putting the thumbe naile into the mouth, and with a ierke (from th' upper teeth) make it to knocke."
44. [Of our side.] On our side (on = of, as often).
55. [Here comes one,] etc. "Gregory may mean Tybalt, who enters directly after Benvolio, but on a different part of the stage. The eyes of the servant may be directed the way he sees Tybalt coming, and in the mean time Benvolio enters on the opposite side" (Steevens).