Reforming English Spelling(blog.oup.com)
33 points by jruohonen | 93 comments
OUPblog column by Anatoly Liberman arguing for a minimalist, gradual reform of English spelling and describing the English Spelling Society's recent congress.
#etymology on Hacker News
7 stories tagged etymology, newest first.
Surnames from nicknames nobody has any more(blog.plover.com)
927 points by JNRowe | 430 comments
Blog post from The Universe of Discourse explaining English patronymic surnames derived from medieval nicknames, some of which are no longer in use.
Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? (2017)(english.stackexchange.com)
1128 points by flexagoon | 256 comments
A locked English Language & Usage Stack Exchange question asking which word starting with "y" names an axe-like object shown in a picture.
Did English ever have a formal version of "you"? (2011)(english.stackexchange.com)
461 points by ent101 | 391 comments
An English Language & Usage Stack Exchange question asking whether English ever had a formal second-person pronoun like German Sie or French vous.
Who lusts for certainty lusts for lies(etymonline.com)
412 points by hprotagonist | 140 comments
An Online Etymology Dictionary column arguing that Google Ngram Viewer n-gram data is unreliable and misleading for word history research.
Ancient Greek terms worth reviving(classicalwisdom.substack.com)
402 points by cacher | 220 comments
A Classical Wisdom Substack newsletter post listing 12 Ancient Greek terms, such as eudaimonia and arete, that the author argues deserve modern revival.
Why do ships use “port” and “starboard” instead of “left” and “right?”(oceanservice.noaa.gov)
555 points by snitzr | 548 comments
NOAA National Ocean Service fact page explaining why ships use "port" and "starboard" as fixed directional terms instead of left and right.