Language Stories

Articles in the Language Stories series

The Logic of Back-Formation: From ‘Editor’ to ‘Edit’

Which came first: the editor or the edit? The answer reveals a fascinating linguistic process called back-formation, where we reverse-engineer…

6 hours ago

The Men Who Invented an Alphabet: Cyril & Methodius

Did you know the Cyrillic alphabet wasn't invented by a man named Cyril, or even by a Russian? The script…

1 week ago

The Great Manx Comeback

In 1974, UNESCO declared the Manx language extinct with the death of its last native speaker, Ned Maddrell. Yet, this…

1 week ago

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…

3 months 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…

3 months 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…

3 months 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…

3 months 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…

3 months 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…

3 months 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.…

3 months ago

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