A bit of humor for your week: John Cowan has built a list of 1,000+ “Essentialist Explanations” on various languages. If you’re a language buff it’s worth checking out. Here are a few to get you started.
English is essentially a language that uses vowels no other language would accept.
-Luís Henrique
English is essentially bad Dutch with outrageously pronounced French and Latin vocabulary.
-Eugene Holman
English is what you get from Normans trying to pick up Saxon girls.
-Bryan Maloney
(via Kottke)