Dead Language Society
Subscribe
Sign in
Home
Story of English
Literature & Lore
Etymology
Sound & Spelling
Poetry & Style
Before English
Book Club
Archive
About
Story of English
Latest
Top
Discussions
There’s no such thing as g-droppin’
That apostrophe is a lie
Jun 3
•
Colin Gorrie
76
13
2
English has no future
Will, shall, and other mysteries
May 20
•
Colin Gorrie
135
16
10
Why you’re not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition
And why you do it anyway
May 6
•
Colin Gorrie
105
22
4
A bluffer’s guide to etymology
How to guess the age and origin of any English word
Apr 8
•
Colin Gorrie
149
6
11
1066 didn't change English (but 1250 did)
How all those French words actually got into English
Feb 11
•
Colin Gorrie
156
10
12
Scots, English, and the linguistic uncanny valley
English’s fascination with its closest cousin
Jan 21
•
Colin Gorrie
170
32
12
Were Old Norse and Old English a single language?
I say hām, you say heimr, let's call the whole thing off.
Jan 17
•
Colin Gorrie
87
6
3
The wild world of grammatical gender
Beyond masculine, feminine, and neuter
Dec 6, 2025
•
Colin Gorrie
68
11
5
Why people feel entitled to correct your grammar online
A natural history of the language police
Nov 26, 2025
•
Colin Gorrie
113
61
20
The English language’s wild century
And those who tried to resist it
Nov 22, 2025
•
Colin Gorrie
91
6
4
The beginner’s guide to Early Modern English
How English emerged from the Middle Ages
Sep 27, 2025
•
Colin Gorrie
90
7
8
What people get wrong about Elizabethan English
How to sound like Shakespeare
Sep 24, 2025
•
Colin Gorrie
193
55
15
This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please
turn on JavaScript
or unblock scripts