The Strange, Twisty History of Our Weird Words
If you’ve ever stared at a word like “colonel” or “receipt” and wondered “who decided this spelling was okay?”, you’re not alone. English spelling is notoriously chaotic.
Let’s explore why English is so hard to spell — and why your confusion is actually perfectly logical.
A Frankenstein’s Monster of Languages
English isn’t just English. It’s a giant soup made from:
- Old English (Germanic roots)
- Norse (Vikings invaded and left behind words)
- French (Norman invasion changed half the language)
- Latin & Greek (thanks, scholars & the church)
Each wave added its own spelling conventions. So we have French-based words like “ballet,” Germanic words like “house,” Latin-based “auditorium,” and Greek-rooted “philosophy.”
They all came with their own rules — and English didn’t bother to standardize.
Printing Locked It In
In the 1400s-1500s, the printing press arrived in England. Spelling started getting fixed in print, even though pronunciation was still changing wildly.
This meant:
- Spelling froze.
- Speech kept evolving.
Which is why we still write “knight,” “debt,” or “doubt” with silent letters that made sense centuries ago.
Silent Letters Everywhere
- The “k” in “knife”? Used to be pronounced.
- The “b” in “doubt”? Leftover from Latin “dubitare.”
- The “gh” in “light”? Was once a harsh throat sound like in German “licht.”
Over time, we dropped the sounds but stubbornly kept the letters.
Borrowings With Zero Adjustments
English loves to steal words from other languages as is — odd spellings and all.
- “Ballet” from French, keeping the silent “t.”
- “Tsunami” from Japanese, keeping the silent “t.”
- “Schadenfreude” from German, with its unique vowel cluster.
Instead of adapting them phonetically, English often just plopped them into place.
Attempts to Reform It (That Failed)
In the 1800s and early 1900s, people tried spelling reform movements.
- Noah Webster gave us “color” vs. British “colour.”
- But more radical changes like spelling “enough” as “enuf” never caught on.
Why? Because language is emotional. People hate change when it comes to familiar words.
The Upside: English Is a Museum
All this weirdness means English is like walking through a museum of language history. Every odd spelling is a fossil.
- “Doubt” still shows its Latin roots.
- “Knight” still carries echoes of medieval pronunciation.
- “Psychology” holds tight to its Greek birth.
A Friendly Reminder
If you ever feel embarrassed messing up English spelling, remember: even native speakers regularly misspell “accommodate,” “rhythm,” and “occasionally.”
So you’re in good company.
Keep Exploring Language’s Quirks
Love odd histories, strange rules, and the way words evolve? Stick with us at Word Jolt — we’ll keep unpacking it all.
