Hey, y'all. I'm Timbid Armias, and this is NPR's Book of the Day. Today, two books about how languages evolve and what that change tells us about ourselves. In a minute, we'll hear more about the new book, like, literally dude, where linguist Valerie Friedland delves into the quirks of the English language,

and why some people don't get the props they deserve for helping it evolve.

And like, I'm already obsessed.

But first, something I wasn't obsessed with in middle school was having to read Beowulf.

I know, I know, it's canonical and all that good stuff,

but I remember having to fight with the page just to make sense of Old English, and I was having none of it.

Hana Vaidine, however, was drawn in and has made a career of trying to better understand Old English and the medieval culture that produced it.

She writes about some of that in her new book, The Word Horde, Daily Life in Old English.

She spoke about it with weekend edition host Aisha Roscoe, and in this chat, Vydine places Old English in context by talking about how it was used in daily life.

And in doing so, she introduces us to a few new words, and even some familiar ones,

and makes the language sound really interesting.

But don't get a twisted.

I'm still not rereading Beowulf.

Here's Aisha Roscoe.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.

On our new show, Sources and Methods.

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people

helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

You know those Word of the Day apps to expand your vocabulary?

Well, our next guest has an app highlighting words with a twist, like Rath Mode, as in super angry,

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