This has gotta be one of the nerdiest things I have come across in quite a while. Hugely amusing and well done, too.
Where's the #OldEnglish Version?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBa5nN_JyPk&list=RDvBa5nN_JyPk&start_radio=1
#MiddleEnglish
@ukdamo We in the US shall soon find out what it’s like to sit here with no pennys. #MiddleEnglish
In one of the word games I played this morning I learned that the word "girl" stems originally from Old English "gyrele, gyrle" and from Middle English gerle, girle, gyrle, all of which meant a “young person of any gender”.
#TIL something about the word "parlous."
I already knew "parlous" as a form of the word "perilous" associated with English spoken in the western and mid-western USA. Most likely, I got that from Western films or maybe cartoons of Yosemite Sam & Bugs Bunny. Who knows. The phrase that sticks in my head is: "I'm parlous thirsty, ma'am."
But today, I learned that "parlous" was used in #MiddleEnglish, so possibly as far back as the 1100s! 😮 Def not the #OldWest!
Typed "I'm delighted" in a text to a friend -- and stopped short, looking at the word "delighted."
I used "delighted" to mean that I am pleased, joyful, content, happy.
But delighted. De-lighted.
Wouldn't that mean "darkened"? Illumination removed?
If "de-" indicates that "light" is removed, how does that jive with the emotions of pleased, happy, or content?
Looked up the #etymology.
And voilà.
"light" <-- leoht (#MiddleEnglish) <-- lēoht (#OldEnglish) <-- *leuhtą (#ProtoGermanic)
1/
My Big Idea About The Word “BIG”:
Bilingualism, borrowing, and the trouble with F and W
open.substack.com/pub/neilshoo...
#bilingualism #history #languagecontact #secondlanguage #english #welsh #history #middleenglish #middlewelsh #borrowing #lenition
My Big Idea About The Word “BI...
Just started reading a parallel text edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Loving it so far. If you know bits of German and French, and can mentally vocalize different pronunciations for the unfamiliar spellings (and two obsolete letters) the #MiddleEnglish is quite enjoyable to decipher before reading the parallel modern English.
This word still exists in #Dublin, as handsel:
And sythen riche forth runnen to reche hondeselle
(And then nobles came forward to offer good-luck tokens)
The Middle English Text Society, which publishes excellent online editions of medieval literature, needs financial help due to the funding cuts south of the 49th parallel https://metseditions.org/ #histodons #philology #medieval #middleEnglish
“Shake it off” from “Piers Plowman” and Mark 6:11 to Virginia Woolf, Wilco, and Taylor Swift. #111Words #ShakeItOff #Music #Literature #Bible #WilliamLangland #PiersPlowman #MiddleEnglish #MylesCoverdale #VirginiaWoolf #JacobsRoom #Wilco #TaylorSwift https://andrewjshields.blogspot.com/2025/07/shake-it-off-from-piers-plowman-and.html
I fear I'd be pretty lost in the 1390s. I understand some, but nowhere near enough! Wonder what our descendants will sound like 630 years from now (if there are any). 🫠
#wss366 #Scout 5/19 (#TimeManager Part 11)
A “man” walked up to Poe on his hands. His feet straight up in the air and head protruding from his ass.
“Ich seche faces as wex, wroght to be wondred at,” As the man spoke, a long forked tongue shot out of his mouth holding a contract.
Poe stared at the contract the “person” thrust at him, saying, “I’m not signing my soul away!”
Raven cackled, “He’s a talent SCOUT.”
“For what? I can’t sing, dance, or act.”
Raven spoke to the “man,” “He desireth to witen wherfore.”
The man replied, “For Sire Alfrede’s Fyneste Fendes Melle. He sholde winne muchel worship.”
Raven translated, “For Sir Alfred’s Ultimate Freak Show. He would be a great success.” Raven began cackling again. “Worship! That be rich.”
“Me? Not the talking raven?” Poe was astonished.
“Yes, you. The man who writes poems to dead women and talks to ravens at midnight.”
Poe flicked Raven.
“I’ll tell him,” Raven said indignantly.
“Nay. His wille ne draweth thider.”
“Meetes and herberwe yiven. Haluepeni the mone. Ne shalt do bettre þan þat,” the man replied.
Raven translated, “Meals and lodging provided. Halfpenny a month. Won’t do better than that.”
“He’s crazy. I’m not a freak and a halfpenny a month! He can stick it up his ass!” Poe was bristling.
“His ass is in use, and I am not translating,” Raven said.
Poe shook his head vigorously.
The man shrugged and walked off, muttering, “Warlockes ben wondere wights. Were he min, ich wolde wasshen his muð mid sape.”
“He says, ‘Warlocks are weird creatures, and he would wash your mouth out with soap if you were his kid.’”
#MiddleEnglish
#MicroFiction #NMPrompts #NMV366 #NotDrabble #TimeTravelAuthors #NMTTA
#wss366 #Lick 5/16 #Easy 6/17 (#TimeManager Part 10)
Poe awoke, clutching his head, thinking, “EASY on the cocktails next time.”
Around a bonfire pranced lizards, toads, stags, and creatures more grotesque.
“Where the hell!?”
TM answered, “A smal wicche bad us hoom, 1150.”
Poe’s bedraggled raven added, “Þis is BYFAR þe wierdeste þing þat ich evere seye.”
“You’re not making a LICK of sense,” Poe said. “Translate!”
Raven obliged. “A wee witch invited us home to 1150.” I said, “This is EASILY the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“A witches’ Sabbath!!!” Poe exclaimed.
“Nay, a fest of disgisynges,” a goat-footed man explained.
Raven translated, “Nay, a costume party.”
#MicroFiction #NMPrompts #NMV366 #Drabble #TimeTravel #TimeTravelAuthors #NMTTA @QuasiTemporal
Sumer is icumen in
Lhude sing GQuuuuuuX
#GQuuuuuuX #gundam #anime #MiddleEnglish #SummerCanon #ReadingRota
🤔 Oh joy, another thrilling adventure into the world of Middle English texts – because who doesn't want to read #Chaucer without footnotes? 📜 Apparently, the bold and daring mission to bring ye olde texts to the masses can only be sustained if everyone empties their wallets now that #NEH has bounced, because nothing says "medieval" quite like #crowdfunding. 🤑
https://metseditions.org #MiddleEnglish #LiteraryAdventure #MedievalTexts #HackerNews #ngated
Grandma used the word “whatsome” a lot. I've never heard anyone else say it. I often wonder where it came from.
Curiously, the Oxford Dictionary defines it as an obsolete #MiddleEnglish word meaning “whatever” that hasn't been used in over 500 years.
“Whatsome” was Grandma's “whatchamacallit”. She could also say “and whatsome” in the sense of “and so on”.
Incidentally, Oxford recognises “whatsomever” as a surviving #dialect word.
When my wife brings home slang from middle school and speaks to the kids, I realize my own dialect might as well be Chaucer's.
> Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum,
> þeod-cyninga þrym gefrunon,
> hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon
> Skibidi bop, þæt was þe vybe.
I am still cry-laughing at this screenshot of my medical clinic's portal, they are REALLY dedicated to accessibility
#AncientEgyptian #MiddleEnglish #OldEnglish #ThisIsReal #LinguisticsHumor #LanguageNerd #Languages
The Differences between Old English, Middle English and Modern English https://www.medievalists.net/2023/08/the-differences-between-old-english-middle-english-and-modern-english/ #history #oldenglish #middleenglish #english
A Declaration of Love in Middle English. Ah, the blessings of chivalric love! Poor Shakespeare, poor Romeo, poor Juliet... King Horn, 408-451. #literature #MiddleEnglish #middleages #culture #poetry
Client Info
Server: https://mastodon.social
Version: 2025.07
Repository: https://github.com/cyevgeniy/lmst