Language Families

Why Can’t We Understand Chaucer’s English?

Ever tried to read Chaucer and felt like you were deciphering a foreign language? You're not alone. This post goes…

3 months ago

Why Do Old Movies Sound So Weird?

Ever wonder why stars like Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant spoke with that peculiar, half-British accent in old movies? This…

3 months ago

How the Printing Press Created Standard German

Before the printing press, the "German language" was a chaotic tapestry of regional dialects. This all changed when Martin Luther…

3 months ago

The Ancient Glitch That Makes English Irregular

Ever wonder why we have both "was" and "were", or why the plural of "mouse" is "mice" but "house" is…

3 months ago

Why “Literally” Doesn’t Mean Literally Anymore

Ever cringe when someone says they "literally died laughing"? This common complaint points to a fascinating linguistic process called semantic…

3 months ago

The Glottal Stop: A Ghost in the Machine

It’s the subtle catch in your throat in the middle of "uh-oh" or the defining feature of a Cockney accent…

3 months ago

Linguistic Fossils: Spain’s History in Idioms

Ever wondered why Spaniards say "there are no Moors on the coast" to mean the coast is clear? Many Spanish…

3 months ago

The Rebirth of Cornish

Once officially declared extinct after the death of its last native speaker in the 18th century, the Cornish language (Kernewek)…

4 months ago

When English Met French

The Norman Conquest of 1066 wasn't just a military victory; it was a linguistic collision that created a centuries-long class…

4 months ago

The Greek Language War: A Nation’s Identity Crisis

For over a century, Greece was torn apart by a linguistic civil war, a battle fought not with weapons but…

4 months ago

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