In 1971, when a new public library opened in Troy, Michigan, famous authors and artists were invited to write letters to the city’s youngest readers, extolling the many benefits of libraries. One of the loveliest was from E.B. White, author of...
One of the most powerful words you’ll ever hear β and one of the most poignant β isn’t in dictionaries yet. But it probably will be one day. The word is endling, and it means “the last surviving member of a species.” The...
Malamute, kayak, and parka are just some of the words that have found their way into English from the language of indigenous people in northern climes. β’ In the 1970s, some scientists argued that two quarks should be called truth and beauty. β’ The...
After our conversation about mini-seasons between the usual winter, spring, summer, and fall, listeners share other examples: stick season in Vermont and mud season in Michigan. The Old English word for “February,” solmonath, may derive...
Need an Old English word for “sneeze”? How about fnΔosung? This is part of a complete episode.
A delightful new book offers a taste of life in early medieval England through everyday vocabulary of that time and place. It’s called The Wordhord: Daily Life in Old English, by Hana Videen (Bookshop|Amazon). The book includes helpful...