Someone in Buenos Aires might sing a song that first became popular in Italy, then was adapted in the UK, and later rewritten in Spain. And yet despite these vast changes across cultures around the world, everyone knows the words immediately, no sheet music required. How does this happen? Football chants are unique among both music and speech in that [...]
Have you ever taken a moment to look at the money you use? The banknotes in your wallet have a complex story to tell, and every bill carries a history of choices about what should be represented on it. Colors, faces, symbols, and more are all part of the equation, and by looking at them more closely, you can [...]
We’ve talked about football kits and the anthems you’ll hear at the World Cup, but those aren’t the only things you might notice. If you listen to the crowd, you may hear talk of tiki-taka or the G.O.A.T on the field, and you might not know what to make of these terms. Football is so popular worldwide that [...]
Communication can cross borders in an instant nowadays, but it has not always been that way. How do people communicate when they speak different languages? Some choose to learn, but at sea, where sailors might encounter anyone of any nationality, it is simply not feasible to study enough languages. Instead, maritime crews developed an international communication system made [...]
Before every World Cup match, you’ll see the entire stadium rise for the national anthems of the countries taking part. What you might notice is the differences in approach: South Africa’s national anthem switches languages mid-song (from Xhosa to Zulu, Sesotho, Afrikaans, and then English). Conversely, Spanish people fall silent during their anthem (because it has no [...]
English is an ever-changing language, and the words we choose are far from the only elements that are added or dropped over time. Punctuation is just as integral to written communication, and it too has been invented, temporarily adopted, and then phased out (to be replaced, or not). Have you ever heard of an interrobang or a [...]
Have you ever wondered why going to a football game is more exciting than watching one at home? There’s the energy of the crowd, sure, but there’s something else, too: the feeling of wearing your team’s colors loud and proud among so many others just like you. Football jerseys are symbolic and immediately recognizable, and this is [...]
If you have been following along with our selfie series, you already know that selfies have changed significantly over time, and the word itself has seen changes over many years, too. Nowadays, a “selfie” is an image taken of at least the head and shoulders, typically with the arm extended in frame as the person captures themselves. This [...]
If you read our previous article on Leendert Hasenbosch’s life, you likely know that things went poorly after his “trial” onboard the Dutch East India Company’s ship. In fact, his punishment was so severe that he perished, stranded on an inhospitable island. So why would he confess in the first place? The reality is that people give false [...]
In our previous article on the history of the selfie, we traced humanity's journey from its first unconscious self-representation to the modern concept of self-portraiture. But the form of the selfie is not the only thing that has changed over that time. In fact, the word “selfie” itself is a very modern adjustment, and it reflects how language [...]
