Wit And The Bear

Wit, Unker, Git

Sophie Hardach | BBC Future | 9th April 2026

English used to have more pronouns. A thousand years ago, speakers had more options than simply singular and plural, such as "wit", which meant "we two" and was used to refer collectively to the speaker and one other person. Another dual option, "unc", roughly translates as "us two". Why do we no longer use these options? Because "language tends towards simplicity" rather than nuance (1,700 words)

Puzzle: Play Nomido, the Browser’s daily word game.

‘I Had Poked The Bear Right In The Eye’

Sergey Radchenko | Guardian | 9th April 2026

How to renounce Russian citizenship. "It required years of painstaking work. I worked through proxies in Russia to collect all the necessary spravkas. Some of them would expire before they reached me, and I’d have to start anew, frustrated but determined... I regarded renouncing my Russian passport as a liberation, a bit like ridding oneself of a toxic relationship or having surgery to remove kidney stones" (5,100 words)