Although she only talks about English, irregular verbs in Spanish (and probably other languages) are really quite similar - frequently used words tend to be more resistant to change than less frequently used ones. ... continue reading

posted by Aard Vark (oritteropo) 6 years 10 months 2 weeks ago • 57 views • 3:59

YT: Are you thinking of adopting a new kitten? Or do you want to know some fun facts about kitten care? WATCH this brand new video to find out some fun facts and information about cats and kittens that... continue reading

posted by PlayhousePals 6 years 11 months 2 weeks ago • 125 views • 5:21

YouTube description: They're just tiny marks on the page, but a lot can depend on them. Produced for Mental Floss.

posted by Aard Vark (oritteropo) 7 years 2 weeks ago • 399 views • 1:42

YouTube description: Why say a whole sentence when just a word will do? You might never have noticed that these English words contain whole phrases within them. Produced for Mental Floss... continue reading

posted by Aard Vark (oritteropo) 7 years 1 month 1 week ago • 428 views • 1:53

YouTube: Here's a little video about a something that caught my interest recently: Anglish, a new "pure" Germanic variety of English with all of its non-Germanic vocabulary removed and replaced by Germanic... continue reading

posted by Janine V. (Lilithia) 7 years 4 months ago • 365 views • 5:33

One thing I should point out is that Mr. Manley consistently gets Karl Schwarzschild's name wrong. It's Schwarz Schild (black shield) and pronounced more like shield (except the d is a t sound and it's... continue reading

posted by Aard Vark (oritteropo) 7 years 4 months 2 weeks ago • 1,050 views • 8:00

I left Japan to get away from this!

posted by Mordhaus 7 years 6 months 3 weeks ago • 1,366 views • 3:48

The Speke’s gazelle is the world's smallest gazelle, and is also one of the most endangered. This Bambi lookalike lives in the semidesert areas in the Horn of Africa. Named after English explorer John... continue reading

posted by blacklotus90 7 years 9 months ago • 202 views • 1:07

YouTube description: in this video i will try to explain how a bladeless fan works. is a bit difficult do it in english. if you can do it better please use comment box below. the space between the... continue reading

posted by Aard Vark (oritteropo) 7 years 9 months 1 week ago • 1,002 views • 4:53

YouTube description: Octopus, platypus, walrus…there’s something about that –us ending that makes us hesitate when we want to make a plural. Here's what you need to know before you pluralize.... continue reading

posted by Aard Vark (oritteropo) 7 years 9 months 2 weeks ago • 270 views • 2:25

YouTube description: How did Q and U get to be partners? It's a tiny window back to the origins of our writing system. Produced for Mental Floss.

posted by Aard Vark (oritteropo) 7 years 11 months 1 week ago • 404 views • 2:49

YouTube description: It varies from town to town, or even within families. Part of the problem with the word pecan has to do with the way it came into the English language. Produced for Mental Floss,... continue reading

posted by Aard Vark (oritteropo) 8 years ago • 656 views • 3:17

Via YouTube: There are various ways to pronounce "O-U-G-H" in the English language. This was hilariously demonstrated on the "I Love Lucy" television program by Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz) and his wife,... continue reading

posted by Gratefulmom 8 years 1 month ago • 842 views • 3:05

YouTube description: Welcome to the world of contronyms, where words mean something--as well as its opposite. Produced for Mental Floss. (via digg)... continue reading

posted by Aard Vark (oritteropo) 8 years 1 month 1 week ago • 728 views • 3:10

YouTube description: Why does English have so many words that have twins? Here's how we got to have two vocabularies, one based in Germanic roots, and one based in Latin. Produced for Mental Floss. ... continue reading

posted by Aard Vark (oritteropo) 8 years 1 month 2 weeks ago • 622 views • 2:20

A discussion of the linguistic features of AAVE, it's similarity to features of other languages, and the arbitrary nature of saying one language is better/worse than another.

posted by iaui 8 years 8 months 1 week ago • 586 views • 8:33

From http://boingboing.net/2015/06/16/the-evolution-of-the-word-du.html ...

posted by ant 8 years 10 months 1 week ago • 898 views • 2:25

YT: For six months, Suki Kim worked as an English teacher at an elite school for North Korea's future leaders - while writing a book on one of the world's most repressive regimes. As she helped her students... continue reading

posted by Zawash 8 years 10 months 2 weeks ago • 133 views • 12:33

"For SIGBOVIK 2015 I did this little hack to produce a portmanteau (that's a jammin' together of two words, like caviar + armpit = caviarmpit) of all 100,000+ words in English. This video is a little illustrated... continue reading

posted by blacklotus90 9 years 3 weeks ago • 141 views • 8:56

Guy Fawkes day as explained for those learning English sounds cheerfully dystopian.

posted by Magicpants 9 years 5 months 2 weeks ago • 40 views • 3:10