English is weird. Let's make sense of it. Bite-sized stories about odd words, baffling idioms, confusing expressions, and pronunciation puzzles.
colonel
Pronounced KER-nulWhere did the R come from? Nobody knows.
queue
Pronounced KYOOFour silent letters, waiting politely in line.
read ≠ read
Pronounced REED · REDPast or present? Only context can tell.
Same four letters. Four very different sounds. English looked at consistency and said, “No thanks.”
Same letters · four sounds
though
Sounds like /oh/
rhymes with go
through
Sounds like /oo/
rhymes with true
tough
Sounds like /uff/
rhymes with stuff
thought
Sounds like /aw/
rhymes with taught
Six wonderfully strange corners of English. Start anywhere — every path leads somewhere surprising.
Silent letters, rebel spellings and rules that break themselves. The gloriously odd stuff.
Example: Why is there a “b” in doubt?
Expressions that absolutely shouldn’t mean what they mean. Raining cats and dogs, anyone?
Example: Break a leg (please don’t).
Affect or effect. Lie or lay. The word pairs that trip up learners and natives alike.
Example: Compliment vs. complement
Add a tiny word, change everything. Look up, look down on, look after, look into…
Example: Put up with, put off, put out
Delightful words you didn’t know you needed. Perfect for impressing friends at dinner.
Example: Petrichor — the smell of rain
Quick, surprisingly tricky challenges. Test yourself, then humble your friends.
Example: How many ways can you say “ough”?
One tap, one random discovery: a baffling oddity, a delightful word, an idiom with a strange backstory, or an expression you'll want to use today.
Press the button.
English will do the rest.