English is an interesting language. I find it interesting the large number of languages that have contributed to English as we know it today. Having learned a couple of those languages you begin to see origins and explanations for some of the "funny" words we find in english. By funny I mean both words that are humorous and words that don't follow the rules.
The Grammar Girl podcast clued me into a great English word. The word is cwm, pronounced /kuːm/. Grammar Girl points out that this is a great Scrabble word. It comes from Welsh and means a specific shape of valley.
Another word origin related episode talks about funny plurals in English. Knowing Dutch Old English is very interesting. I can see the germanic influence and the connections as the language moved westward.
I have found linguistics intriguing for some time now, but I have never attempted to study it seriously. Language is so critical to our experiences and to think of where the differences in language arose can be enlightening.
And despite the geeky topic, the Grammar Girl podcast is quite interesting.
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