O calm, dishonourable, vile submission!
Alla stoccata carries it away.
Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you walk?
– William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Scene 1. Mercutio mocks Romeo for being cowardly for not accepting Tybalt’s challenge to fight. So Mercutio draws his sword to fight in Romeo’s place and defend his honor. He uses a metaphorical insult comparing Tybalt to a "rat-catcher." What Mercutio doesn’t know is that Romeo’s reluctance to fight a Capulet is because he is secretly married to one – Juliet. This an example of dramatic irony since the audience already knows this.