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 [...]
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, youโll see the entire stadium rise for the national anthems of the countries taking part. What you might notice is the differences in approach: South Africaโs 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 [...]
If you read our previous article on Leendert Hasenboschโs life, you likely know that things went poorly after his โtrialโ onboard the Dutch East India Companyโs 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 [...]
If you read an autobiography or a personal journal, you likely assume that you are reading the words as the author intended them. If the work has been translated, surely the content sticks as close as possible to the original, right? You may be surprised. Translation comes with risks, and one of the most salient is the threat [...]
Selfies are a nearly ubiquitous part of modern society. Even if you spend time in tiny coffee shops and less-used public streets, you likely wonโt have to go far to find someone in that characteristic pose: arm stretched in front of them, smiling for the camera in their hand. Images of ourselves have always been a way [...]
If you have ever paid for something from another country or used currency conversion at the airport, you probably saw some terms youโre not familiar with. Lakh. Man. Yรฌ. You have a concept of how big a million is, but what about these other terms? They all describe a large quantity, but not in the same way. Even [...]
If youโre familiar with the story of Robin Hood, youโve probably heard of Nottingham. Likewise, sports fans will recognize Manchester, home of the Manchester United Football Club. While these town names may seem unrelated, they share one thing in common: an English suffix that reveals something about the placeโs history. In fact, many English town and city names [...]
Though you may not recognize the name, youโre almost certainly familiar with it. The NATO Phonetic Alphabet is a historically established set of 26 words, each assigned to a letter of the English alphabet. The purpose of these words is to eliminate confusion when people are trying to spell words aloud over the telephone or radio. The alphabet [...]
