Retired Words: English words that have outlived their purpose. Ancient month names, Norse gods, silent letters — retired and replaced with simpler alternatives.
Grok. Claude. Lyft. Flickr. Every startup name is a gamble on whether anyone can read it. The problem is not the branding. The problem is English.
If You Have to Explain How to Pronounce Your Company Name, Your Language Has Failed Read More »
I dream of an English that plays fair. One where a seven-year-old reads as fluently as a Finnish child, where all verbs take -ed, and where every retired word gets a card in a library, not a deletion.
Two hundred English verbs refuse to follow the -ed rule. They encode no extra meaning. They follow no pattern. They exist because the sound changes that created them died a thousand years ago—and nobody swept up.
English-speaking children take two to three years longer to learn to read than children in Italy, Finland, or Spain. The difference is not the children. It is the language.
The Hidden Cost of English Spelling: Two Extra Years to Read a Stop Sign Read More »
Chinese children breeze through the multiplication table while English-speaking kids are still learning to spell numbers. The difference is not cultural. It is structural.
Eleven Broke English. Then It Broke Arithmetic. Read More »
Myocardial infarction, hypertension, carcinoma — fourteen medical terms that English-speaking health systems are already replacing with plain words patients can actually understand.
Dim Sum, Kung Fu, Bok Choy — nine everyday Chinese words English borrowed and broke. The correct pinyin versions are simpler than you think.
The Words English Borrowed and Broke — Everyday Chinese Terms You Are Saying Wrong Read More »
Dragon Boat Festival, Tomb Sweeping Day — six Chinese holidays English describes instead of names. The real names are shorter and richer.
Chinese Festivals Without Chinese Names — Six Celebrations That Deserve Better Read More »
The Art of War, The Analects, Tao Te Ching — six foundational Chinese texts whose real titles English has replaced with translations. It is time to learn the names.
Six Chinese Books You Are Calling by the Wrong Title Read More »
Whilst, notwithstanding, facilitate — sixteen English words that add syllables without adding meaning. A deep clean for the global language.
The English Language Needs a Deep Clean — 16 Words That Have to Go Read More »