Surprising etymology fact:The “-ing” suffix in phrases like “I like running” is etymological unrelated to the “-ing” suffix in phrases like “I am running”.“-ing” is actuall two unrelated suffixes in English, spelled the same. Quick grammar background:Gerunds are nouns that are made from verbs, formed by adding “-ing”, e.g. in sentences like “Reading is fun”, […]
Surprising Doublets: Hound-Canine and Wolf-Lupine
“Hound” is distantly related to “canine”, and “wolf” is similarly related to “lupus”. This makes these words two pairs of doublets. I enjoy the symmetry of this one, with the scientific species name of the grey wolf (which includes dogs), “Canis lupus”, being from the same origins as hound+wolf in English respectively. Another word related […]
British and Irish names for British and Irish nations
Seven infographics mapping out the various origins and etymologies of the names of seven British and Irish nations in the seven main languages of those nations. Before we get into the etymology, you may want to make sure you’re familiar with what all these words actually refer to. Here’s my post about how to use […]
My Recursive Hexagonal Flat Earth Map
My proposal for a new Flat Earth map was rejected by the Global Flat Earth Society, so I guess I’ll share it here instead. Fun fact: circumnavigating the world will land you in an alternate version of your starting country:
The Ba Green: the land that Scotland won in a football game
Everybody loves weird borders right?Here’s my favourite: This is the Ba Green, a 3 acre meadow on the English side of the River Tweed that, for no clear reason, belongs to Scotland.Well, it turns out the reason is pretty unusual:Scotland won it in a football game!But this wasn’t football like you think of it today: […]
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 […]
How a coastline 100 million years ago influences modern election results in Alabama
If (like me) you enjoy looking at maps, you might sometimes wonder why a map looks a the way it does. The events leading to a certain demographic being more common here, or a border being drawn there, can often be very complex, and fascinating.Here I’ve gathered 6 maps of the US state of Alabama. […]
Bifurcation: The secret giant islands formed when rivers split
As I’m sure you’re aware, rivers usually combine together to make larger and larger rivers until they reach the sea.However, there are some exceptions: rivers do sometimes split up and flow in separate directions. These splits are called “bifurcations” (bi” meaning “two”, and “furcations” being the forks). They happen most often when rivers are close […]
“All Lives Matter” Guy Goes on Holiday
Every time I see people saying “All lives matter!”, as if that is some clever comeback to the Black Lives Matter movement, I think about how silly that statement is. It seems to be a way of trying to discredit the movement, that sounds kind of clever and catchy, until you think about it for […]
Dyēus Phter: The Original Sky-Father
The Greek, Roman, Irish, Slavic, Baltic, Norse, Anglo-Saxon, and Hindu sky-father gods are (probably) all connected, and descended from an ancient sky-father god worshipped 6000 years ago. Okay, maybe “The Original Sky-Father” is a bit of an overstatement. Patriarchal gods of the sky are found in religions all over the world, and humans have probably […]