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Swedish dialect and Arabic language challenge

Arabic is a widely spoken language in the Middle East and North Africa. What is interesting about this language is that it is in a similar situation to Latin, in that there is a form of Arabic called MSA (Modern Standard Arabic) which is used in media and in formal settings. The colloquial language has […]

What is the origin of the word “meme”?

The word “meme” has taken on a life of its own on the internet. Nowadays, it pretty much means funny picture with connotations of using some kind of oft used picture and text. Although the origin of the word was in a Richard Dawkins book where he talks about things that spread through cultural means, […]

Evolution of Indo European languages

Most language in Europe are derived from a language called Proto Indo European which was probably spoken in the Russian steppes in about 6000 BC (I say probably since there are multiple theories about it). The Indo part of Indo European refers to a group of languages in India which also descend from Proto Indo […]

“Be Prepared” in Zulu, one of the official languages of South Africa

Zulu is the most spoken language in South Africa based on native speakers. My language, English, is only the fourth most spoken language. Not many Disney films have been translated into African languages, but with Lion King, they decided to come all the way to South Africa and get Zulu native speakers to record the […]

Meet my friend P. Ano

A guy walks into a bar and sees a 3 foot guy playing the piano. He walks over to the barman and asks, “What’s the deal with the piano player?”. “Well, I met a genie once and he said I could have one wish. But he was a bit hard of hearing. I mean, do […]

How to Mispronounce Everything

I love people messing around with languages! Steve Harvey has made a few too many verbal slipups over the years and in this hilarious SNL skit they make fun of his verbal hijinks. He is like Mrs. Malaprop who mixed up words and mispronounced things left and right 😀