Whatever happened to "thou"? | feat. Grammar Girl

In an age when eels were sometimes used as currency and castles pierced the sky, “thou” was all the rage. But over time, it disappeared from use. Where’d it go? And will it ever make a comeback? Grammar Girl (aka Mignon Fogarty) helps us parse through the grammatical treasures of yore and solve the “thou” mystery once and for all.

A few curiosities you’ll uncover in this episode:

• The searing insults “thou” provided
• The societal shift that ended “thou”
• What dead word Grammar Girl would love to resurrect

Did You Know?

“Thou” was used longest in areas farthest from London. It’s still used in a few regional dialects, including those in Yorkshire and Cumbria.

Credits

Curious State is a Quick and Dirty Tips podcast hosted and produced by Doug Fraser.

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The Quick and Dirty Tips network is a division of Macmillan Publishers in partnership with Mignon Fogarty, Inc.

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