Before technology put a computer in your pocket, information was harder to come by. Secretaries, stenographers, journalists, court reporters, and many other professionals struggled with the gap between the information they needed to share and the information they could retain at a time. Thus, the ability to write in shorthand became an invaluable professional skill, one that served as [...]
Currency has been a central element of human existence for thousands of years, and by the seventh century BC, coins were already in circulation. However, with money comes the desire for more money, and with that desire comes crafty ideas of how to secure more. This is the origin of counterfeit money.Nowadays, modern banknotes are created with counterfeiting in mind. [...]
Humans have always written too slowly for thought. Cultures across history have solved this problem in their own unique ways: Tiro’s word endings in ancient Rome, Chinese draft script, Pitman's phonetic system, and Gabelsberger's cursive "speech-sign art,” among many others. Nowadays, fast writing often comes down to text speak. But most people will admit that writing “u” instead of [...]
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 [...]
