Book Review – The Adventure of English
The Adventure of English The Biography of a Language by Melvyn Bragg While I am a serious enthusiast when it comes to learning about and understanding my native tongue, I am an amateur with regards to...
View ArticleLooking Up a Gun: Common English Words with Nordic Origins
Old Norse words in the English language are much more numerous than many would suspect. Many common words such as gun, craze, and equip are of Nordic origin. Because the two languages were so similar,...
View ArticleThe Give That Keeps On Gifting: The Protean Nature of English Words, and Why...
English is constantly adding, modifying, and repurposing words. Look, there’s one right now: repurpose. According to The American Heritage Dictionary, it is officially a word: re·pur·pose tr.v....
View ArticleOne Language, Many Voices
‘One Language, Many Voices’ was the title of an exhibition at the British Library in 2010-11. It sums up what English is and always has been. This simple truth is overlooked by those who take a...
View ArticleWhere Did ‘Blizzard’ Come From? The ‘Too Long; Did Not Read’ Version
A question on EL&U “On the origin of ‘blizzard’” asked about the origin of the word blizzard. The history of usage of the word during the period between when it first appears in print in the United...
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