Did you know that the roots of English lie in Sanskrit, the language of South Asia 3500 years ago? It travelled to us via Germany. ‘Brother’ in English is ‘Bruder’ in German and ‘bhratar’ inSanskrit.

Almost all of the hundred most common words in our language worldwide, wherever
it is spoken, come from Old English. The, of, and, you, that, many, make, find – all are
words passed down from those spoken more than fifteen hundred years ago, as are daughter, house, shepherd, nose, love and lust.

The first English Dictionary was compiled by Richard Mulcaster in 1582. ‘The Elementarie’ included a list of
some 8000 words, not in alphabetical order and with no definitions. It was an attempt to standardise and set the rules of spelling, so not a dictionary as we know it, but it did highlight the need for such a thing.

Perhaps you will know some Shropshire dialect: canna, feyther, plim, gladsome, were used by Mary Webb in her novels.

Week-end, bed-room, to-morrow, boy-friend. Do these words look odd? Well, that’s how they used to be written before The Strange Case of the Disappearing Hyphen.

Did you know that Jack the Lad was a real person, or that the Oscar was so named by a librarian at the Academy? “Ooh, it looks just like my Uncle Oscar!”

You didn’t know any of the above? Well, if you were a friend of ETHEL, you would! All of these fascinating facts were gathered by our dedicated researchers – AKA members of the group.

More treasures are waiting to be discovered so, if you’d like to join in our explorations of the English language in all its manifestations, why not become a member of the group? We have space in our new home, Bayston Hill Memorial Hall, so give me, Rosemary Salter, a call or contact me via the link in the green box.

PS Next time you’re walking down Mardol, bear in mind that you’re in the Devil’s Limit… ‘Mardol’ comes from the French maere (boundary) and deofol (devil).