Why English is full of silent letters
English has a silent letter problem. The situation is so out of hand that it's often said that every letter of the alphabet can be found silent somewhere in our…
The etymology of “earthling”
and its interesting ending via Jess Zafarris
Analyzing the French in Mad Men’s ‘New Business’
French is used heavily throughout the episode, as Megan’s mother and sister help her move on from her life in New York. One conversation in particular stuck out to me.…
Is a hotdog a sandwich? The problem with definitions
We asked you if a burrito was a sandwich, and you said ‘no’. We asked you if ravioli was a sandwich and you said 'heck no’. We asked you if…
Why doesn’t English have genders? Well… it did!
Pretty much every other language seems to have grammatical genders… so why doesn't English? Well, it used to. Old English had three genders, meaning there were at least three different…
British country names explained
Why is 🏴England named after the Angles and not the Saxons? Does 🏴"Welsh" really mean slave? And where was the original 🏴Scotland? These questions answered and many more on this…
How far back in time
can you understand English?
French negation history
sorry to old English speakers
Following the Sounds of Poetry
There are multiple pathways from Anne Carson’s poetry to Ross Gay’s prose. One need only listen, the Poetry Center at the University of Arizona in Tucson reminds us, and follow…
AI Threatens Literary Translation
The etymology of the word translation—“to carry across”—conjures an image of physical labor. It is deeply relational, requiring at least two bodies, those of an author and of the person…