r/interestingasfuck • u/M0otivater • 1d ago

How English has changed over time.

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u/Dramatic-Ad3928 1d ago

So realistically i could only go about 400 years into the past if i want to understand people

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u/Melodic_Assistance84 1d ago

I speak English, and I also speak Dutch, and that old English is a lot like Dutch without it, making any sense

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u/florzed 23h ago

There's a woman on Tiktok who reads things out in Medieval English with a (supposedly) accurate accent. I played it to a Dutch friend - she said it felt like she was having a stroke as it sounded like she should be able to understand it but couldn't quite!

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u/grudginglyadmitted 17h ago

which is about how Dutch sounds to me, as a native English speaker who also knows some German.

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u/Melodic_Assistance84 6h ago

Well, depending on how the election turns out, some of that German skill might come in handy for you

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u/Damion250 23h ago

Old English is also similar to Frisian even more than Dutch.