I found this interesting documentary on YouTube. It's an eight part series that explains where English comes from. Based on this book.
Did you know?
- The modern Frisian language is the closest sounding language to the English used approximately 2000 years ago, when the people from what is now the north of the Netherlands travelled to what would be the United Kingdom and pushed the Celtic language (Celts) to the western side of the island. Words like "blue" can be recognized in the Frisian language.
- The use of latin-based words in the English language is because of the Christian movement.
- The word "rhyme" was given an "h" simply because the word "rhythm" already had one.
- Alcohol also added a great deal of words to the English language, "bootlegging" referred to hiding a flat bottle of alcohol in the leg of a boot. "And there were literally hundreds of terms from drunk," says Bragg. "Benjamin Franklin listed 229 of them minted in America, including... 'He's wamble-cropped,' 'He's halfway to concord,' 'He's ate a toad and a half for breakfast,' 'He's groatable,' 'He's globular,' [and] 'He's loose in the hilts.'"
- Novels were thought to be a frivolous occupation for females until Jane Austen wrote about the capabilities of such works in her own novels; her works were highly proper, often using words like "agreeable", "appropriate", "discretion", and "propriety".
Check out the rest of the series here:
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Source: Wikipedia
28 comments:
Interesting stuff! I did know #2. :)
"He's three sheets to the wind!"
Fascinating stuff. Never knew the origin of English.
Super cool. I like little facts like this. So very interesting.
Oh, but this is cool. I'm putting it on my January list of things to learn and do.
This is all so very interesting, Clarissa. Thanks for taking the time to post this for us.
Ann Best, Memoir Author
Apparently a lot of slang and obscene words from the past are now common, every day words we use today.
Makes me scared for the future.
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing Clarissa.
I love information like this. Thank you!
I think I saw this!! It was like oooh 2004I think! It was a long documentary over 6 or seven weeks! Amazing - the whole thing is on Youtube!?!? Wow!!
Thanks for this Clarissa - gosh that was a blast from the past!
Take care
x
Wow, that was fascinating. I must now watch the other episodes. Thanks for posting.
I love learning things like this. I'll have to watch the video later. Thanks!
So cool! Thanks for sharing, Clarissa! :)
ah, reminds me of English Language History at College ....
Wow, that's crazy facinating.
I must admit, but I saw your name was Clarissa and after reading this post, I couldn't help but think "Clarissa Explains it all."
Please forgive my Nickelodean reference.
Very interesting. Thanks for posting it.
Donna
Ah, the history behind the words, one of my favorite subjects :) I especially liked being wamble-cropped. I'm going to use that one some day.
I think this kind of stuff is FASCINATING! I love it!!
That is so interesting! I love this stuff Clarissa. Thanks for posting it. I may have to get this book...
Thanks so much for posting this Clarissa. I watched a few episodes years ago and loved it, but could never remember the title. Now I can watch the whole series and buy the book!
Looks like something I'd be interested in. Must add it to my to-be-bwatched pile. Thanks for the link!
One of my favourite books is 'The History of English' by McCrum et al. It's fascinating stuff.
I love Old English and the history behind the words we speak.
This post is exactly what I need.
*G*
Clarissa - Oh, this is such interesting stuff! You're making my linguist's heart skip a beat ;-). So much of our culture, our sets of assumptions and so on are related to our language. Thanks!
So much to know about the English language!
Interesting. My two favorite topics in language class were language history and dialects >:)
Cold As Heaven
Interesting facts!
Hi Clarissa - language is fascinating isn't it - I can't remember seeing the Bragg documentaries but am delighted to know they're all on YouTube for us.
Love the history of the book - travel/journal/guide books before the novel radiated out in various guises.
I hadn't realised the Frisian connection .. great info here - thanks so much .. cheers Hilary
Very interesting. Languages are fascinating.
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