Etymology

A Time Traveler’s Guide to Old English

Forget Shakespeare. If you traveled back to 1000 AD, you'd find a language that sounds more like German and has…

1 week ago

Linguistic Taphonomy: Word Decay

Just as paleontologists study fossils to understand ancient life, we can explore the fossils in our own language. Linguistic taphonomy…

1 week ago

Why Is English Spelling So Weird?

Ever wonder why 'knight' has a 'k' or 'island' has an 's'? The answer isn't that English is illogical, but…

3 months ago

The Color That Didn’t Exist

Did you know that for most of human history, the color orange didn't have a name? Ancient languages often described…

3 months 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…

3 months ago

The Word-Eating Glitch: What is Haplology?

Ever wonder why so many people say 'probly' instead of 'probably' or 'libry' instead of 'library'? This common linguistic shortcut…

3 months ago

Fix Your Spelling: 10 Tricky Words

Struggle with words like 'accommodate' or 'liaison'? This foundational guide breaks down 10 of the most commonly misspelled words in…

3 months ago

Latin: The DNA of Modern Science

Far from being a linguistic relic, Latin is the essential operating system for modern innovation. This post moves beyond its…

3 months ago

The People Who Became Words: A Guide to Eponyms

From 'boycott' to 'sandwich', our language is full of words that were once people's names. This fascinating guide to eponyms…

3 months ago

The Two-Faced Word: Janus and ‘January’

The first month of the year is named after Janus, the two-faced Roman god of beginnings and transitions. More than…

3 months ago

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