Language Stories

Articles in the Language Stories series

Lost in Translation in Galicia

Ever tried to say you're 'close' in Galicia and ended up implying you're 'tight'? This post explores the hilarious and…

1 week ago

The Sailor Who Mistook a Word for an Island

Explore the strange case of "I-da-no", a phantom island that appeared on Japanese maps for decades. This wasn't a sailor's…

1 week ago

The Man Who Spoke Only in Numbers

Following a severe stroke, a brilliant Russian scientist lost his ability to speak—but found a new voice in the language…

1 week ago

The Interrobang’s Brief, Glorious Life

What do you get when you combine a question mark and an exclamation point? In the 1960s, frustrated ad man…

1 week ago

The Telegram That Ended a War (With a Typo)

Discover the story of the Ems Dispatch, a royal telegram that sparked the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. See how master…

1 week ago

The Day a Radio Play Caused a Panic

On Halloween Eve 1938, Orson Welles didn't just tell a scary story; he masterfully manipulated the language and structure of…

1 week ago

The POW Tap Code: A Language of Knocks

In the crushing silence of Vietnamese POW camps, American prisoners forged a lifeline from a simple 5x5 grid of letters.…

1 week ago

The Vowel That Saved a Kingdom

In the chaos of medieval Bruges, how could you tell friend from foe? For Flemish rebels in 1302, the answer…

1 week ago

The Sadesan Hoax: A Language That Never Was

In the early days of the internet, a mysterious language called Sadesan appeared, promising a lost branch of the Indo-European…

1 week ago

The Great Tea Divide: Cha vs. Te

Ever wonder why it's 'chai' in Moscow but 'tea' in London? The answer lies not in a dictionary, but on…

1 week ago

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