Dead Language Society

Dead Language Society

Home
Language
Myth
History
Book Club
Archive
About
How the letter E almost ruined English poetry
Time erodes all things, even Chaucer
18 hrs ago • 
Colin Gorrie

October 2025

What is a Hallow, anyway?
The linguistic mysteries of "Halloween"
Oct 29 • 
Colin Gorrie
How to end a sentence with style
Cadence in English prose from Gibbon to Orwell
Oct 25 • 
Colin Gorrie
“God” is a weird word
Two competing divine etymologies
Oct 15 • 
Colin Gorrie
How iambic pentameter really works
And why it works so well in English
Oct 11 • 
Colin Gorrie
Beowulf Book Club 4: 1396–1962
Of monsters and melting swords
Oct 10 • 
Colin Gorrie
1:41:04
How rhyme works (and why)
A lesson in the anatomy of the syllable
Oct 8 • 
Colin Gorrie
The hidden logic of nicknames
What “Rob” and “Andy” teach us about language
Oct 1 • 
Colin Gorrie

September 2025

The beginner’s guide to Early Modern English
How English emerged from the Middle Ages
Sep 27 • 
Colin Gorrie
What people get wrong about Elizabethan English
How to sound like Shakespeare
Sep 24 • 
Colin Gorrie
When did English become English?
Linguistics confronts the "species problem"
Sep 17 • 
Colin Gorrie
Sing, sang, sung and other linguistic fossils
A history of English “strong verbs”
Sep 13 • 
Colin Gorrie
© 2025 Colin Gorrie
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture