It’s commonly heard these days that English is going to hell in a handbasket, but it’s worth remembering that we’ve always said things like this. A hundred years ago, as telephones became more and more common, sticklers railed against...
We eat chicken and fish, but not cow. Instead, we use terms like veal, beef, mutton, and pork to refer to red meat. It’s largely the result of the Norman invasion of the British Isles, when French started to meld with English. This is part of...