etymology

Proving Languages Are Related

How can linguists be so certain that English and ancient Sanskrit are cousins, while neighboring Finnish is a total stranger?…

3 weeks ago

Bulls, Bears, and Black Swans: The Language of Wall Street

From the primal imagery of charging bulls and swiping bears to the stark warning of a "dead cat bounce," the…

3 weeks ago

Naming the Enemy: The Linguistics of Disease

The names we give diseases, from the ancient 'malaria' (bad air) to the clinical 'COVID-19,' are never just labels. They…

3 weeks ago

Biography of a Word: The Journey of ‘Assassin’

Discover the dramatic history of the word 'assassin,' a term born from a mysterious medieval sect in the mountains of…

3 weeks ago

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Have you ever felt a longing for a place you've never been, or the bittersweetness of a fleeting moment you…

3 weeks ago

The Great Germanic Sound Shift

Long before English vowels did their famous shuffle, a far more ancient and dramatic event rocked its linguistic family tree.…

3 weeks ago

The Graveyard of Words: Who Decides When a Word Is Officially Dead?

For every new word that enters the dictionary, thousands of others fall into disuse and disappear into the graveyard of…

3 weeks ago

The Shape of Nothing: How the Invention of ‘Zero’ Was a Linguistic and Mathematical Revolution

The concept of zero is more than just a number; it’s a profound linguistic and philosophical idea that had to…

3 weeks ago

“86 the Jargon!”: The High-Pressure Linguistics of the Professional Kitchen

Step inside the chaotic world of a high-end restaurant kitchen, a linguistic pressure-cooker that has forged its own unique lexicon…

3 weeks ago

Reading the Landscape: How Forgotten Languages Are Fossilized in Place Names

What if the map on your wall was a Rosetta Stone, holding the key to forgotten languages and ancient migrations?…

3 weeks ago

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