Dr Danny Bate
@dannybate.bsky.social
"That etymology guy". Linguist, broadcaster, writer, researcher, language fanatic. 'Why Q Needs U' (https://geni.us/WhyQNeedsU) an Economist book of 2025. Host of ALILI podcast. Website: https://dannybate.com/. Inquiries: [email protected]
Pinned
Dr Danny Bate
@dannybate.bsky.social
· Oct 15
Why does Q always need a U? A quirky guide to the alphabet
The letter A was once an ox’s head and O was an eye — you’ll never look at a keyboard the same way after reading Danny Bate’s fascinating linguistic history
www.thetimes.com
The Times, specifically @jamesmcconnachie.bsky.social, has in this joyful review kindly bestowed on my book Britain's highest description: "lovely"
www.thetimes.com/culture/book...
www.thetimes.com/culture/book...
Reposted by Dr Danny Bate
I hate to tap the sign but again: this is all made to make in-person education and access to knowledge transfer a preserve of the elite. Human education for the few, bots for the many.
We want to make sure tutoring isn't the preserve of a lucky few, but accessible to every child who needs it.
AI can help us do that.
Safe, personalised, one-to-one learning support to help every child achieve and thrive.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...
AI can help us do that.
Safe, personalised, one-to-one learning support to help every child achieve and thrive.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...
Poorest pupils to be given AI tutors
Bridget Phillipson says tuition would no longer be the preserve of ‘the lucky few’
www.telegraph.co.uk
January 29, 2026 at 10:34 AM
I hate to tap the sign but again: this is all made to make in-person education and access to knowledge transfer a preserve of the elite. Human education for the few, bots for the many.
'Puny' is a negative word today, but when it first appears in 16th-century English, it has the neutral meanings of 'junior' (in status) or 'younger' (in age).
These archaic senses are a product of its origins: as a French compound of puis 'after' and né 'born'.
These archaic senses are a product of its origins: as a French compound of puis 'after' and né 'born'.
January 28, 2026 at 2:54 PM
'Puny' is a negative word today, but when it first appears in 16th-century English, it has the neutral meanings of 'junior' (in status) or 'younger' (in age).
These archaic senses are a product of its origins: as a French compound of puis 'after' and né 'born'.
These archaic senses are a product of its origins: as a French compound of puis 'after' and né 'born'.
Reposted by Dr Danny Bate
Will the real St Brigid please stand up? 👋
Here's the evidence which indicates that the Kildare woman was real - and why this is worth emphasising today, writes Dr Niamh Wycherley from the Dept of Early Irish (Sean-Ghaeilge).
@ceilteachomn.bsky.social
www.maynoothuniversity.ie/research/spo...
Here's the evidence which indicates that the Kildare woman was real - and why this is worth emphasising today, writes Dr Niamh Wycherley from the Dept of Early Irish (Sean-Ghaeilge).
@ceilteachomn.bsky.social
www.maynoothuniversity.ie/research/spo...
January 26, 2026 at 11:41 AM
Will the real St Brigid please stand up? 👋
Here's the evidence which indicates that the Kildare woman was real - and why this is worth emphasising today, writes Dr Niamh Wycherley from the Dept of Early Irish (Sean-Ghaeilge).
@ceilteachomn.bsky.social
www.maynoothuniversity.ie/research/spo...
Here's the evidence which indicates that the Kildare woman was real - and why this is worth emphasising today, writes Dr Niamh Wycherley from the Dept of Early Irish (Sean-Ghaeilge).
@ceilteachomn.bsky.social
www.maynoothuniversity.ie/research/spo...
Reposted by Dr Danny Bate
A few days ago, I was invited to the award ceremony for a prize my book 'Die goeie ouwe taal' was announced to be nominated for.
As a result, I won't be able to join tomorrow's talk. ☹️
Fortunately, Danny Hieber of Linguistic Discovery will be there in my stead. 😊
As a result, I won't be able to join tomorrow's talk. ☹️
Fortunately, Danny Hieber of Linguistic Discovery will be there in my stead. 😊
This free talk about public linguistics and books is still on for tomorrow (sign up at the link), although @yvanspijk.bsky.social has had to drop out on account of being too successful.
But fear not: Daniel Hieber of @linguisticdiscovery.com fame has gallantly stepped up to be the fourth speaker!
But fear not: Daniel Hieber of @linguisticdiscovery.com fame has gallantly stepped up to be the fourth speaker!
January 26, 2026 at 5:07 PM
A few days ago, I was invited to the award ceremony for a prize my book 'Die goeie ouwe taal' was announced to be nominated for.
As a result, I won't be able to join tomorrow's talk. ☹️
Fortunately, Danny Hieber of Linguistic Discovery will be there in my stead. 😊
As a result, I won't be able to join tomorrow's talk. ☹️
Fortunately, Danny Hieber of Linguistic Discovery will be there in my stead. 😊
This free talk about public linguistics and books is still on for tomorrow (sign up at the link), although @yvanspijk.bsky.social has had to drop out on account of being too successful.
But fear not: Daniel Hieber of @linguisticdiscovery.com fame has gallantly stepped up to be the fourth speaker!
But fear not: Daniel Hieber of @linguisticdiscovery.com fame has gallantly stepped up to be the fourth speaker!
January 26, 2026 at 4:57 PM
This free talk about public linguistics and books is still on for tomorrow (sign up at the link), although @yvanspijk.bsky.social has had to drop out on account of being too successful.
But fear not: Daniel Hieber of @linguisticdiscovery.com fame has gallantly stepped up to be the fourth speaker!
But fear not: Daniel Hieber of @linguisticdiscovery.com fame has gallantly stepped up to be the fourth speaker!
Reposted by Dr Danny Bate
Being a journalist is sick: I just contacted a pre-eminent jaguar conservationist in Argentine with a question that has been weighing on me for ages and he wrote back right away with an informed answer.
January 25, 2026 at 11:13 PM
Being a journalist is sick: I just contacted a pre-eminent jaguar conservationist in Argentine with a question that has been weighing on me for ages and he wrote back right away with an informed answer.
Reposted by Dr Danny Bate
Bloomsbury, 1933, and each week my father & his pals were going to meetings & marches to try to do something, anything, about the rising anti-semitism in Germany. Everyone was fully aware of what was happening. Fully aware. This was six years before the outbreak of war.
January 28, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Bloomsbury, 1933, and each week my father & his pals were going to meetings & marches to try to do something, anything, about the rising anti-semitism in Germany. Everyone was fully aware of what was happening. Fully aware. This was six years before the outbreak of war.
Reposted by Dr Danny Bate
In Norwegian, we took the "Uhu" and threw in a "bro" – 'brother'. The owl is called "hubro". Uhu-brother.
January 24, 2026 at 10:27 AM
In Norwegian, we took the "Uhu" and threw in a "bro" – 'brother'. The owl is called "hubro". Uhu-brother.
In addition to the standard word Uhu, German names for the Eurasian eagle-owl have included Schuhu, Huhu and Buhu, and I'll be damned if there are better owl names out there.
January 24, 2026 at 10:10 AM
In addition to the standard word Uhu, German names for the Eurasian eagle-owl have included Schuhu, Huhu and Buhu, and I'll be damned if there are better owl names out there.
Reposted by Dr Danny Bate
This essay on my odd relationship to my mother tongue is still one of my favourites -- probably because I first wrote it in Romanian, basically the only essay I've ever done that for.
therumpus.net/2021/10/12/t...
therumpus.net/2021/10/12/t...
Tongue Stuck - The Rumpus
It was a kind of madness to speak a language to my son that I hadn’t used in almost a decade.
therumpus.net
January 23, 2026 at 8:24 AM
This essay on my odd relationship to my mother tongue is still one of my favourites -- probably because I first wrote it in Romanian, basically the only essay I've ever done that for.
therumpus.net/2021/10/12/t...
therumpus.net/2021/10/12/t...
This article spends a lot of time in the ancient Greek region of Ionia, and a related fact that didn't fit in is that the geography of Greece has historically included both Ionia to the west and the Ionian Sea to the east, towards Italy – and the region and the sea are unrelated words.
I spent Christmas thinking about Greco-Bactrian kings and Greek texts in Nubia, and now you can too!
If you'd welcome some distraction from Armageddon, here's my January mega-post, all about the Greek language's life beyond Europe.
dannybate.com/2026/01/06/g...
If you'd welcome some distraction from Armageddon, here's my January mega-post, all about the Greek language's life beyond Europe.
dannybate.com/2026/01/06/g...
Greek, the Asian and African Language
Just as the borders of Europe are geographically, politically and socially fuzzy, so too are its linguistic edges. Whatever lines of demarcation we care to draw, the many flavours of speech to be h…
dannybate.com
January 21, 2026 at 7:26 PM
This article spends a lot of time in the ancient Greek region of Ionia, and a related fact that didn't fit in is that the geography of Greece has historically included both Ionia to the west and the Ionian Sea to the east, towards Italy – and the region and the sea are unrelated words.
Reposted by Dr Danny Bate
america how to turn off
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america why included as part of default software in world
america can i replace it with linux
america how to silence notifications
america how to delete
america why included as part of default software in world
america can i replace it with linux
January 20, 2026 at 4:29 PM
america how to turn off
america how to silence notifications
america how to delete
america why included as part of default software in world
america can i replace it with linux
america how to silence notifications
america how to delete
america why included as part of default software in world
america can i replace it with linux
Mē and mec are variants of accusative 'me' in Old English.
Mē is typical of Wessex texts, and mec of Mercian ones (with a final consonant that's still there in German mich).
Yet the Alfred Jewel text ('Alfred ordered me made') uses "mec" – evidence perhaps of Mercians working for the Wessex king.
Mē is typical of Wessex texts, and mec of Mercian ones (with a final consonant that's still there in German mich).
Yet the Alfred Jewel text ('Alfred ordered me made') uses "mec" – evidence perhaps of Mercians working for the Wessex king.
January 20, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Mē and mec are variants of accusative 'me' in Old English.
Mē is typical of Wessex texts, and mec of Mercian ones (with a final consonant that's still there in German mich).
Yet the Alfred Jewel text ('Alfred ordered me made') uses "mec" – evidence perhaps of Mercians working for the Wessex king.
Mē is typical of Wessex texts, and mec of Mercian ones (with a final consonant that's still there in German mich).
Yet the Alfred Jewel text ('Alfred ordered me made') uses "mec" – evidence perhaps of Mercians working for the Wessex king.
In one week's time! Sign up at the link!
If you like books about linguistics and languages (perhaps you'd like to write your own?), here's a free talk for you!
On the 27/1, I'll be putting questions to four fabulous authors over Zoom, getting their experience of writing linguistically for the public. Link:
us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
On the 27/1, I'll be putting questions to four fabulous authors over Zoom, getting their experience of writing linguistically for the public. Link:
us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
January 20, 2026 at 4:19 PM
In one week's time! Sign up at the link!
Reposted by Dr Danny Bate
“O” happy day!
This fascinating tome from @dannybate.bsky.social finally arrived to my Swiss doorstep.
(We had to wait for the second printing, apparently.) Výborně!
This fascinating tome from @dannybate.bsky.social finally arrived to my Swiss doorstep.
(We had to wait for the second printing, apparently.) Výborně!
January 20, 2026 at 4:09 PM
“O” happy day!
This fascinating tome from @dannybate.bsky.social finally arrived to my Swiss doorstep.
(We had to wait for the second printing, apparently.) Výborně!
This fascinating tome from @dannybate.bsky.social finally arrived to my Swiss doorstep.
(We had to wait for the second printing, apparently.) Výborně!
Reposted by Dr Danny Bate
January 19, 2026 at 6:56 PM
Reposted by Dr Danny Bate
‘It can be fun to learn how much method there is in the madness’
January 20, 2026 at 8:29 AM
‘It can be fun to learn how much method there is in the madness’
Reposted by Dr Danny Bate
New favourite example of scalar implicature
January 18, 2026 at 4:13 PM
New favourite example of scalar implicature
Reposted by Dr Danny Bate
Also, I think, if I was an American
President, I would probably not be keen to undermine “your boats landed there” as grounds for possession of territory.
I mean, it’s a very defensible argument, but it’s not exactly one in your own interests.
President, I would probably not be keen to undermine “your boats landed there” as grounds for possession of territory.
I mean, it’s a very defensible argument, but it’s not exactly one in your own interests.
![NEW: @potus letter to @jonasgahrstore links @NobelPrize to Greenland, reiterates threats, and is forwarded by the NSC staff to multiple European ambassadors in Washington. I obtained the text from multiple officials:
Dear Ambassador:
President Trump has asked that the following message, shared with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, be forwarded to your [named head of government/state]
“Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a “right of ownership” anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hbpefio3f5csc44msmbgioxz/bafkreie7itpptx3xbxhpsnlaqmwk752h7pcrion5ija2apksljtax2adx4@jpeg)
January 19, 2026 at 6:46 AM
Also, I think, if I was an American
President, I would probably not be keen to undermine “your boats landed there” as grounds for possession of territory.
I mean, it’s a very defensible argument, but it’s not exactly one in your own interests.
President, I would probably not be keen to undermine “your boats landed there” as grounds for possession of territory.
I mean, it’s a very defensible argument, but it’s not exactly one in your own interests.
A year now without this gorgeous moron, and I've thought about him and his grumpy face every day of that year – chonky cats leave behind appropriately chonky holes. I still defy any other cat to match him in quality of head-bumps.
We said a final goodbye to Silver today, after a princely feline life very well lived.
He was my dear and sweet companion for many years, especially through the difficulties of the pandemic. We loved him, and, in his way, he loved us back. I will truly miss him, and I would just like to share that.
He was my dear and sweet companion for many years, especially through the difficulties of the pandemic. We loved him, and, in his way, he loved us back. I will truly miss him, and I would just like to share that.
January 19, 2026 at 9:38 AM
A year now without this gorgeous moron, and I've thought about him and his grumpy face every day of that year – chonky cats leave behind appropriately chonky holes. I still defy any other cat to match him in quality of head-bumps.
Reposted by Dr Danny Bate
#OnThisDay - 19 January - in AD 103 Reburrus, a Spanish decurion in the 1st Pannonian cavalry regiment, received his military diploma granting him Roman citizenship: from Malpas in Cheshire, UK. #AncientHistory 🏺
Image: British Museum (1813,1211.2). Link - britishmuseum.org/collection/o...
Image: British Museum (1813,1211.2). Link - britishmuseum.org/collection/o...
January 19, 2026 at 9:02 AM
#OnThisDay - 19 January - in AD 103 Reburrus, a Spanish decurion in the 1st Pannonian cavalry regiment, received his military diploma granting him Roman citizenship: from Malpas in Cheshire, UK. #AncientHistory 🏺
Image: British Museum (1813,1211.2). Link - britishmuseum.org/collection/o...
Image: British Museum (1813,1211.2). Link - britishmuseum.org/collection/o...
Reposted by Dr Danny Bate
*john donne voice* 🎶 thou'rt so vain, thou probably thinkst this bell tolls for thee 🎶
January 18, 2026 at 9:58 AM
*john donne voice* 🎶 thou'rt so vain, thou probably thinkst this bell tolls for thee 🎶
I've just realised that the Smurfs all wear Phrygian caps – is the Smurf village intended to be an idealised Revolutionary France, with Gargamel representing the reactionary forces of the ancien régime?
January 18, 2026 at 8:47 AM
I've just realised that the Smurfs all wear Phrygian caps – is the Smurf village intended to be an idealised Revolutionary France, with Gargamel representing the reactionary forces of the ancien régime?
Reposted by Dr Danny Bate
Seems unfair that you only get to use the bouncy slide to get off a plane when things have gone wrong. The bouncy slide should be a treat they give to the best passengers who did the flight correctly.
January 17, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Seems unfair that you only get to use the bouncy slide to get off a plane when things have gone wrong. The bouncy slide should be a treat they give to the best passengers who did the flight correctly.
Always worth trying your luck with church doors, even in January – some, like those of St George's on the almost-island of Reichenau, open onto a 10th-century series of murals in a building that dates to the 9th century.
Now I can add my own photos to an old article.
dannybate.com/2023/10/17/t...
Now I can add my own photos to an old article.
dannybate.com/2023/10/17/t...
January 16, 2026 at 11:49 AM
Always worth trying your luck with church doors, even in January – some, like those of St George's on the almost-island of Reichenau, open onto a 10th-century series of murals in a building that dates to the 9th century.
Now I can add my own photos to an old article.
dannybate.com/2023/10/17/t...
Now I can add my own photos to an old article.
dannybate.com/2023/10/17/t...