Nestling in these web-pages, you will find a flock of Aha moments. Follow them into the green valleys of languages, witness how the word-pollens, at times floating on the gentle breeze of cultural and intellectual exchanges, and at others, blown by the storms of wars and conquests, have since ages drifted from one valley to the other, cross pollinating, giving birth to new words and expressions. And having found a fertile patch of acceptance, see how these young words then took root – sometimes blooming for a season and at others growing into giant oaks that live for centuries.
Follow the streams of etymology, hop over the stone-bridges of comparative linguistics, and go up the slopes in search of their source. And once there, in the clear air of the high peaks, you will notice how the many word-streams that glitter for miles around you come from the same well-spring, how the thousands of years of exchanges have made each valley only richer and more vibrant – and how, perhaps no other language has been as welcoming of and consequently, benefited as much from, such exchanges, as the English language.
And when you come back from this little expedition, you will not just have hundreds of new words in your vocabulary but also a smile on your face. Have fun!
