History of English Podcast

Why do we use the words we do? Where did all these syllables and their many varied meanings, always shifting and changing, begin? If you're the type of weirdo, like me, who yearns to know, this podcast will occupy you for a long time. There are 190 episodes in the series.

Starting with Proto-Indo-European, amateur linguist Kevin Stroud traces the migratory journey of pre-English as it moved westward and across the English Channel. Some of these waves, such as the Norman Conquest, will be familiar. Others are so obscure they can only be discovered via forensic research. The story of language is the story of our shared human history.

Stroud is an adorably-accented Southern attorney who is clearly immersed in a labor of love. His effort to pronounce and explain each step of evolution is endearing and fascinating. You root for Kevin as much as wanting to know why we say Sheriff instead of a more police-ish word, or why so many nautical and military terms come from Old Norse. The aha moments come thick and fast.

The History of English adds shades of meaning to an already-vast lexicon that a certain type of geek (me) cannot get enough of.