History

How the Industrial Revolution changed English

Technology and the birth of new dialects

Jun 25 •

Could Beowulf see blue?

The history of English colour words

Jun 21 •

Why English doesn’t use accents

And why French is full of them

Jun 18 •

Why English spelling will never make sense

The history of English spelling reform

May 24 •

The lost letters of the English alphabet

And why they didn't survive

May 21 •

The first English-speaking pope

The lost language of Adrian IV (1100-1159)

May 14 •

How the Goths changed the fate of Europe

A guide to Gothic language and history

May 10 •

The king named ‘Little Daddy’

The linguistic afterlife of Attila the Hun

May 7 •

Do Americans really speak like Shakespeare?

Who can claim the "real" English?

Apr 23 •

The ancient art of beating about the bush

Why you should care about kennings

Apr 16 •

Why you (kinda) speak like a Viking

Turns out English is a little bit Norse

Apr 2 •

The 1000-year-old riddles we still can't solve

The weird world of the Exeter Book riddles

Mar 26 •

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