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Which countries do not have an official language?

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According to Henry Hitchings  Language Wars  (2011) these nations do not currently have an  official  primary language: UK see here USA though 20 states now have an official language —  see here Australia Over 80% speak English but there is no official national language. Pakistan Urdu became official language in 2015 but   only spoken by 8% of population . Ethiopia Amharic is official language but most spoken is Oromo Somalia Eritrea  Costa Rica Why these countries?   Read extended transcript on Medium  About the English Language - Teaching Pack  

What is Esperanto? And why did it irritate George Orwell?

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Polish linguist and pacifist, L.L. Zamenhof invented Esperanto ('hope) which he believed could be an international lingua franca or second language. Because it had no irregular verbs and phonetic spelling esperanto was a 'perfect' language . It also had no associations with a particular nationality or country. George Orwell's aunt was an early proponent of Esperanto - see comments below . When he went to stay with her in Paris, she insisted on speaking this new language when he was hoping to practise his French.  The political element of Esperanto particularly disturbed Orwell. The attempt to control and direct language was in his view a central feature of totalitarianism. Newspeak - the language Orwell created for his dystopian novel, 1984, is clearly a variant on Esperanto. More on Esperanto here English Language 100 FAQ   -  only £1.99

Where does the word meme come from?

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Why 'as mad as a hatter'?

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'Mad as a hatter' is usually used to describe extreme eccentricity.  The phrase appears in The Clockmaker (1817) by Thomas Haliburton. Perhaps surprisingly, it is not used directly by Lewis Carroll  in either  Alice in Wonderland ' (1865) or Through the Looking Glass (1871).  Chapter VII of the former is, however, called A Mad Tea Party. It also  attended by a hatter, who the Cheshire Cat calls 'mad. It is the  zany antics at the tea party that are being referenced in modern usage. Mercury poisoning The phrase is commonly believed to allude to the grim effect of mercury poisoning on workers (hatters) manufacturing felt hats.  Mercury poisoning  affects the nervous system, with dementia a common symptom.  Victims developed severe and uncontrollable muscular tremors and twitching limbs, called 'hatter's shakes'; other symptoms included distorted vision and confused speech. Advanced cases developed hallucinations and other psychotic symptoms. source Da

What is an izzard? Why is it pronounced differently in the UK & the USA?

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An izzard is the letter Z -  the 26th letter of the Roman alphabet.  Like the letter Y this was imported into Latin directly from Greek. It is pronounced zed in British English and zee in American English. This is because the British English version - also used in other English-speaking countries - derives its pronounciation from the old French zed  which in turn is based on the Greek zeta. Where did zee come from? Izzard was the standard pronunciation in the US until the early 19th Century. Gradually, however, the dominant pronunciation pattern (c=see, d=dee) was imposed. The word izzard has never been widely used outside the expression 'everything from A to izzard.'

What is a humble brag?

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"I am well aware that I am the 'umblest person going," said Uriah Heep, modestly.    Charles Dickens, David Copperfield