Nov 23, 2020 | Fun Historical Facts
Ivy Panda has created a World Map Timelapse of the spread of the English language from the 5th century to date. You can watch it in its entirety below or click on the links to jump to a specific time period: 0:00 Intro 0:09 5th-15th century 0:26 16th century 0:49 17th...
Jul 27, 2020 | Fun Historical Facts
Someone asked this on Quora and Oscar Tay gave a fascinating answer. The oldest recorded word In English is Gægogæ mægæ medu. The Undley Bracteate In 1982, a farmer in Undley Common, Suffolk, England, was walking across his field when he came across a fantastic bit of...
Dec 17, 2018 | Entertainment
I found this on Facebook and just had to share (and yes, I know it’s “bated breath,” not “baited breath”). If you enjoy reading about Shakespeare, you may enjoy this post about he died a nobody and his works then got famous almost by...
Dec 1, 2018 | Fun Historical Facts
The English language is a strange one, for sure, thanks to the Isles’ long history of war and conquest. Each wave of conquerors left its mark on the language, from the Romans to the Vikings and Normans. Antiquated rules can cast long shadows, as seen even today...
Feb 13, 2018 | Entertainment
Courtesy of The Vintage News In case you can’t watch the video for whatever reason, here are my favorite Viking words: Happy Happ is the Old Norse word for good fortune or fate. Husband A word (Husbondi) in which hus (house) and bondi (occupier and tiller of...
Jun 7, 2017 | Fun Historical Facts, Writing
One of my favorite pastimes is to find out the origins of common sayings or phrases. So, I was thrilled when my author friend Sebastian White (of Quirky Claus fame) alerted me to The Phrase Finder, a wonderful resource for anyone with a passion for English. In true...
Jun 2, 2015 | Entertainment
I found this on Tickld and just had to share! According to the original post, if you can pronounce correctly every word in this poem, you will be speaking English better than 90% of the native English speakers in the world. And, after trying the verses, a Frenchman...
Apr 3, 2014 | Entertainment
This is funny and I think that we all have wondered at the wonders (repetition intended) of the English language! It took me quite a while to understand why enough is spelt as it is (never quite understood why ‘gh’ is spelt as ‘f’, and I used...
