31videosRobWords
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Playlists · 5
21:45Britain's Celtic languages explained
1.37M viewsBritain's Celtic languages, Welsh, Gaelic, Cornish and Manx, and how they relate.
17:41British country names explained
3.42M viewsWhere the names England, Scotland, Wales, Britain and the UK's other names come from.
16:15How anyone (including YOU) can read German
2.98M viewsHow shared Germanic roots and sound correspondences let English speakers decode German.
26:03The origin of every English city's name
1.31M viewsHow English city names reveal Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon and Norse history.
22:56The origin of every European country's name
2.31M viewsThe etymology of every European country's name.
22:23The origin of every US state's name
2.01M viewsThe origins of all fifty US state names, from Native American languages to Spanish and English.
21:00What does the $ actually stand for?
1.55M viewsThe history of the dollar sign and the competing theories of its origin.
21:23Hieroglyphs are easier than they look
3.21M viewsHow Egyptian hieroglyphs actually work: logograms, phonetic signs and determinatives, and how to read some.
18:09Is English just badly pronounced French?
3.01M viewsHow Norman French reshaped English vocabulary and spelling after 1066, and how much of English is really French.
21:45Is English really a Germanic language?
1.67M viewsWhether English is still really a Germanic language given its huge Latin and French vocabulary.
14:10OLD NORSE IN ENGLISH: The words the Vikings left behind
1.84M viewsThe Old Norse words the Vikings left in English and how linguists identify them.
23:28The genius logic of the NATO phonetic alphabet
6.22M viewsHow the NATO phonetic alphabet was designed — tested for intelligibility across languages and noisy radio — and why each word was chosen.
20:26The hidden logic behind #, @, & and §
1.65M viewsThe origins of the symbols #, @, & and § and how their uses evolved.
20:31The rest of the world does names differently.
2.35M viewsHow naming conventions differ around the world — patronymics, family-name order, Icelandic and Spanish naming and more.
20:46Tracing English as far back as possible
1.75M viewsTracing English back through Old English and Proto-Germanic to Proto-Indo-European.
24:27Where did your surname come from?
3.77M viewsHow English surnames formed — from occupations, places, nicknames and fathers' names — and what yours might mean.
20:08A guide to the alphabet
842K viewsA 20-minute video from RobWords's catalogue; the title names its topic.
21:23A history of mad attempts to fix English spelling
374K viewsA 21-minute video from RobWords's catalogue; the title names its topic.
17:49A traveller's guide to Japanese
378K viewsA 18-minute video from RobWords's catalogue; the title names its topic.
17:13ANGLISH: English without the 'foreign' bits
1.72M viewsA 17-minute video from RobWords's catalogue; the title names its topic.
18:47Almost no names are 'English'
1.33M viewsA 19-minute video from RobWords's catalogue; the title names its topic.
23:03Are these words "untranslatable" into English?
1.29M viewsA 23-minute video from RobWords's catalogue; the title names its topic.
22:26Are these words really "untranslatable" into English?
525K viewsA 22-minute video from RobWords's catalogue; the title names its topic.
15:56Britain had its own Scandinavian language
749K viewsA 16-minute video from RobWords's catalogue; the title names its topic.
3:06British & American terms: The Village Tour
92.6K viewsA 3-minute video from RobWords's catalogue; the title names its topic.
20:45Did Shakespeare invent as many words as people claim?
514K viewsA 21-minute video from RobWords's catalogue; the title names its topic.
20:00English has an opposites problem
453K viewsA 20-minute video from RobWords's catalogue; the title names its topic.
23:50Grammar rules you can stop sticking to
1.38M viewsA 24-minute video from RobWords's catalogue; the title names its topic.
6:59HOW TO USE THOU ...as well as thee, thy, ye & you.
445K viewsA 7-minute video from RobWords's catalogue; the title names its topic.
22:23
18:22How the months got their names (and what we used to call them)
987K viewsA 18-minute video from RobWords's catalogue; the title names its topic.
1:05:13How to solve cryptic crosswords
180K viewsA 65-minute video from RobWords's catalogue; the title names its topic.
18:29I updated the alphabet. What do you think?
1.03M viewsA 18-minute video from RobWords's catalogue; the title names its topic.
20:00Is German as bad as people say?
676K viewsA 20-minute video from RobWords's catalogue; the title names its topic.
24:36Is there a better alphabet for English?
461K viewsA 25-minute video from RobWords's catalogue; the title names its topic.
11:50MILITARY RANK WORDS: How to say 'lieutenant' and why army hierarchy is all wrong
837K viewsA 12-minute video from RobWords's catalogue; the title names its topic.