We generally think of creativity as something that should never be compromised. There’s a kernel of truth to this, as many good idea have been squashed and perverted by faceless bureaucrats. Likewise, trying to draft original ideas in a committee is a recipe for frustration and gridlock. And yet, creativity is sometimes improved by give …
Note: This article was written just a couple of weeks before George Lucas sold the Star Wars Franchise to Disney. And while I doubt that Lucas read my article, I’m glad he came to a similar conclusion. George Lucas needs a restraining order, a piece of paper forbidding him from messing with the Star Wars …
Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve looked at letters of the alphabet that didn’t quite make the cut. Some of the these letters were added to the alphabet and later dropped, whereas others were proposed additions that never got adopted. Some spelling reformers, however, have not been content to add a new letter here …
Over the centuries, many spelling reforms have tried to add new letters to the alphabet. Given that the Emperor Claudius couldn’t pull this off, you might think that no new letters have been added since ancient times. In fact, we’ve gained three new letters. “W” came about in the Early Middle Ages, as a doubling …
In previous installments of this series, we’ve looked at letters of the alphabet made and lost in the days of ancient Greece and Rome. Now let’s look at some of the Old English Letters that never made it into our modern alphabet. Anglo-Saxon Innovations After the Fall of Rome, the Latin Alphabet gradually spread across …
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