Endonyms are the names countries call themselves in their own language(s), while exonyms are the names foreign languages call them. Often these are clearly related (like English “Brazil” and Portuguese “Brasil”). Other times they are clearly unrelated, like Germany and Deutschland. And sometimes they are related, but don’t really look it (like Burma and Myanmar). […]
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How ‘guacamole’ is related to ‘avocado’ and ‘mole’
The words ‘avocado’, ‘guacamole’, and ‘mole’ (the Mexican sauce) all come to use from Classical Nahuatl, the language of the Aztec Empire, via Spanish. The word ‘avocado’ actually has quite a complex etymology, so let’s start with that: Avocado The earliest origin of this word is Proto-Nahuan *pa:wa, meaning avocado. This evolved into Classical Nahuatl […]
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 […]
Races of Nirn: How are the races of the Elder Scrolls Universe related?
We were in full lockdown here in Hanoi over the summer, and I decided it would be a good time to get back into some of the games I played as a teenager. In particular, I played through 3 of the Elder Scrolls games: Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim. As I played I was inevitably drawn […]