In the 1960s, a radical new alphabet for English was born, bankrolled by the will of playwright George Bernard Shaw.…
Why isn't the past tense of "go" *goed*? The answer lies in a fascinating linguistic phenomenon called suppletion, where a…
From the simple 'bye-bye' in English to the Indonesian *wiku-wiku* (very fast), repeating words is a powerful tool found in…
"Hello" is so common we rarely question its origin, but it wasn't always our go-to greeting. This now-ubiquitous word exploded…
Have you ever noticed the strange, clipped language of a recipe? This post decodes the unique grammar of the kitchen,…
For millions of English speakers, the words "cot" and "caught" are pronounced identically, while for others, they remain distinct. This…
Think pirates all sounded like Long John Silver, shouting "Shiver me timbers"!? The historical reality is far more fascinating. This…
What do the "cran" in cranberry and the "luke" in lukewarm have in common? They are "cranberry morphemes"—fossilized word parts…
Ever been told to *dust* a cake right after you finished *dusting* the furniture? Welcome to the paradoxical world of…
Ever tried to read Chaucer and felt like you were deciphering a foreign language? You're not alone. This post goes…
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