Mysteries of The Vernacular

Mysteries of Vernacular are a series of videos from TED-Ed,created by Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel, that explore the etymology of words. The origins of the words are often nothing like their modern meanings. I really like like how the original words are really surprising and I wouldn't have guessed the origins by myself. There are currently 11 videos, each on a different word, so watch for new ones to be released. The animations for the video make them even more interesting to watch. The narration is set to the scene of a book which opens and flips its pages to reveal stop-motion animations illustrating the lecture. My favorite video is on the word hearse, as the origin of hearse is quite different and remote from the current word. Click here for the full set of videos and at this site there are lessons accompanying the videos making these videos a great resource. Below is the video for the word hearse, where I learned how "herpex" became "hearse".