Language

A detective’s guide to English place names

And the hidden history they reveal

Aug 30 •

“Dog” is a weird word

Where animal names come from

Jun 11 •

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 strange death of English ‘R’

And why it survived in America

Apr 26 •

“She” is a weird word

The mysterious origin of a simple pronoun

Apr 9 •

When poetry didn’t rhyme

The ancient art of alliterative verse

Mar 12 •

When English worked like Latin

And how it all fell apart

Feb 26 •

The invention that ruined English writing

Because it came 25 years too early

Feb 12 •

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