Mum, mummy, mam, mammy, ma, maw, or mom? I’ve put together some maps to show what British and Irish people call their mothers, when speaking English. This data is from surveys that focused on adults, rather than children. While I’ve tried to make them as accurate as possible, in areas with low population densities they […]
Linguémon: Linguistical Monsters!
I made another silly linguistics comic that only true linguistics nerds will fully appreciate:“Linguémon: Linguistical Monsters!” If you’re an aspiring linguistics nerd who didn’t get all these references, here’s some homework to help you understand all this. For a more details, click the links to go to a full explanation of each topic being referenced […]
Ecology Related Halloween Costumes
Remember, nothing is scarier than impending environmental destruction! So why not creep out your friends this year with some spooky ecological theme costumes
Zero Effort Halloween Costumes
Out of ideas this Halloween? Why not try a Zero Effort Halloween Costume! It’s the least you could do.
Thanks, it has pockets!
[Image description: the Greek creator goddess Gaia complements the Australian goddess Eingana on her new animal, a kangaroo. Eigana relies “Thanks, it has pockets!”] I like to imagine all the creator goddesses from every polytheistic religion hang out together and are friends. Eingana is specifically a Jawoyn goddess from northern Australia. She is a goddess […]
Etymonopoly: A Free Print-and-Play Game for Language Lovers
A meme I made has been turned into a playable board game! First here’s images of the board and cards. Scroll down for the printable PDFs! A bit of backstory: A while ago I had a silly idea that would leave me alone until I made it: “what if monopoly, but linguistics?”. The basic idea: […]
The Etymology of English Colours
❤️Red, 💚green, 🩶grey and 🤎brown just evolved fairly simply from Proto-Indo-European colour names, with their meanings unchanged in the last 6000 or so years of evolution. The only twist being that “green” and “grey” seem to be from the same root.. There is no clear explanation for this, although something similar seems to have happened […]
Unexpected doublets: how “merry”, “bra”, and “pretzel” are related
Did you know the word “merry” is related to the words “bra” and “pretzel”? Well now you do. A quick rundown of each of these words: ⭐Although these days its pretty localised to the holiday season, “merry” used to be a fairly general word meaning “happy” or “pleasant”. It comes from a Proto-Germanic word which […]
Dragons at the start of the Dance of the Dragons
[Spoiler warning for season 1 of House of the Dragon, no spoilers for season 2] I’m a huge A Song of Ice and Fire fan, but watching House of the Dragon, I sometimes find myself losing track of the various dragons and their riders, so I’ve made this helpful cheat-sheet. It shows every dragon at […]
The Etymology and Name evolution of Alston, Cumbria
Todays post is something bit different and perhaps a bit niche, but I’d like to share an image about the name evolution of my hometown, Alston. Alston has a population of only about 1000 people, and is nestled among the hills of the North Pennines in Cumbria, England. It is England’s highest town, and probably […]