Peter Trudgill
15 July 2026
Why is the new PM called Andy, not Andrew Burnham?
The pet name Andy appeared in the 1920s – and became widespread from the 1980s
Read the full article08 July 2026
Why an ear of corn has nothing to do with hearing
Some words have two unconnected meanings – others have simply drifted apart
Read the full article01 July 2026
Goal, wicket, frame: What’s behind the multiple meanings of sports terms?
Exploring sporting polysemy – the cases where a single word has several different, even if often related, meanings
Read the full article17 June 2026
The incredible story of the real Xanadu
The pleasure dome and sacred river were opium fantasies – but it was a place where the world met to trade
Read the full article10 June 2026
Why Erling is really Haw-land, not Hah-land
We’re getting footballer Haaland’s name wrong - and it originally had an å rather than a double A too
Read the full article03 June 2026
Why British people can’t pronounce sockeye salmon properly
Its name comes from an indigenous North American language that requires a trick of the throat
Read the full article27 May 2026
When the Guardian was offended by television
The curious history of language purists hating ‘mongrel’ words
Read the full article20 May 2026
What Trump doesn’t get about the Falklands
The president has put the islands’ fate back on the table – without asking the islanders
Read the full article13 May 2026
How Britain blundered in the first refugee crisis – 340 years ago
French Protestants came in search of religious freedom. Then the Glorious Revolution changed everything
Read the full article06 May 2026
Why did we call her the Queen – not Queen’s – Mother?
The answer to a question about an old English grandma lies in Old English grammar
Read the full article29 April 2026
Why I’m walking round with a lentil in my eye
A cataract operation left me with pseudophakia – the happy condition of having an artificial lens
Read the full article22 April 2026
How names go extinct, then come back to life
In countries like Britain with no strong baby naming traditions, Lily, Ivy and Elsie can disappear for decades before returning to popularity
Read the full article15 April 2026
Should you say CONtroversy or conTROversy? And does it matter?
Which syllables should be stressed is a cause of stress – so here’s a guide
Read the full article01 April 2026
Did Tommy Cooper’s fez really come from Morocco?
The origin of the hat’s name comes from the location of berries used to dye its felt
Read the full article25 March 2026
The strange history of the Herzogs, a dynasty without a crown
From Ashkenazi roots to German titles, the surname of Israel’s president carries centuries of meaning
Read the full article18 March 2026
Why few dare speak the name of Mozart’s son
Franz Xaver Mozart is known as ‘FX’ – because English speakers are baffled by his middle name
Read the full article11 March 2026
The beautiful linguistic chaos of modern Iran
Authoritarian governments have pushed Farsi’s dominance – but 59 other languages still thrive
Read the full article04 March 2026
What Michael Jackson got wrong about apostrophes
Enough! Just stop using ‘til when it should be till
Read the full article25 February 2026
Why are snowy bumps and VIPs both called moguls?
Ski-slope bump or influential person? Two similar-sounding but unrelated words have merged
Read the full article11 February 2026
Fakelore and the spurious pastime of dwile flonking
How a genuinely old dialect word became part of a made-up East Anglian pub game
Read the full article04 February 2026
What do the French call a ‘French exit’?
The art of slipping away from a party without saying goodbye is known across the Channel as ‘leaving in the English style’
Read the full article28 January 2026
When asylum meant safe from violence
How a Greek word for sanctuary became one of the most contested terms in modern English
Read the full article21 January 2026
Don’t mistake a rook for a rookie
Despite its strong association with US sport and policing, the term ‘rookie’ has a complicated history
Read the full article14 January 2026
A language you didn’t know you spoke
Some familiar words we use in everyday English carry surprising traces of Malay, a language spoken widely across south-east Asia
Read the full article07 January 2026
Seven degrees of separation: The curious origins of musical pitch
How biology, physics and geography came to define the structure and range of the human voice
Read the full article31 December 2025
A multilingual hospital with the accent on care
How perfect can crucial communications be within a hospital with a plethora of languages, dialects and communicative styles?
Read the full article17 December 2025
The lost voices of 15th-century Norfolk speak again
A set of documents provides a unique window into earlier forms of the English language
Read the full article10 December 2025
The linguistic logic behind dropped syllables
What triggers haplology – why do speakers omit whole syllables?
Read the full article03 December 2025
The hidden Swedish voices of the Baltic
Small communities across Finland, Estonia and even Ukraine keep the Swedish language alive in unexpected corners of Europe
Read the full article26 November 2025
My relationship to my flesh and blood
An examination of other languages from around the world shows us that ownership can be signalled in rather more complicated ways
Read the full article19 November 2025
Weybourne Hope, the guardian of England
The village is said to be the only place along the English east coast where an enemy navy could approach within a few hundred yards
Read the full article12 November 2025
The myth of England’s monocultural past
The idea England ever spoke no languages other than English is a fantasy with no foundation in reality
Read the full article