> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://linguisticdiscovery.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # How a deaf quarterback invented the huddle + Linguists explain the life of slang - URL: https://linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/2025-37/ - Published: 2025-09-18T13:52:41.000Z - Updated: 2026-03-11T11:32:57.000Z - Description: Also this week: The world’s oldest written languages, and a cool new book on etymology. Here’s what happened this week in language and linguistics. - Author: Daniel W. Hieber, Ph.D. - Tags: Current Linguistics, slang Welcome to this week’s edition of *Discovery Dispatch*, a weekly roundup of the latest language-related news, research in linguistics, interesting reads from the week, and newest books and other media dealing with language and linguistics! It was a quiet week in linguisticsland, with no language-related events or new research in the news cycle, so this week’s issue is nice and succinct! ## 📢 Updates *Announcements and what’s new with me and Linguistic Discovery.* ### 📸 Instagram @ 300,000 ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!L58l!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F453867dd-27ec-4f47-a8b3-5be1f0529830_1545x2000.png) Linguistic Discovery’s Instagram account just reached 300,000 followers! Thank you so much to those of you who follow me there and are helping support my mission to educate the world about the science and diversity of language. You’re such a great community! As a thank you, here’s a 50% discount on an annual subscription to the paid version of the Linguistic Discovery newsletter: [Get 50% off one year](https://linguisticdiscovery.com/300KINSTA) ## 🆕 New from Linguistic Discovery *This week’s content from Linguistic Discovery.* ### The most frequent consonant in English—and the world’s languages ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!HZWD!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33ad7454-4c1f-4a45-8100-55971c097ff3_1140x588.png) If you’ve spent much time solving [cryptograms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptogram?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com), you probably already know that ⟨t⟩ is the most frequently used letter in English. Given that, it’s reasonable to assume that /t/ would be the most frequent sound in English too. So imagine my surprise earlier this week when, as I was reading the latest issue of [*Babel: The Language Magazine*](https://babelzine.co.uk/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com), I learned that the most frequent consonant in spoken English isn’t /t/ at all—it’s /n/! What’s going on here? Why the discrepancy? The fact that the relative frequency of ⟨t⟩ and /t/ differ immediately tells us something interesting: either a) many of the written ⟨t⟩s in English are not pronounced as /t/ (or are silent), or b) in speech we use more words with /n/ and fewer words with /t/ than we do in writing. So which is it? In this special supporter-only bonus issue, we’ll look at the frequencies of sounds in English and discover a fascinating pattern about how they compare to sounds in the rest of the world’s languages. [Your cryptogram is lying to you—/t/ isn’t the most frequent sound in EnglishWhat are the most frequent sounds across languages (and why)?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/languages-bordered-64.png)Linguistic DiscoveryDaniel W. Hieber, Ph.D.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/cryptogram.webp)](https://linguisticdiscovery.com/posts/english-consonant-frequencies/) ℹ️ Note that this post is for paid subscribers only. If you’d like to read it and are not yet a supporter, you can become one for just $5/month by clicking the button below. [💝 Become a supporter!](#/portal/signup) ## 📃 This Week’s Reads *Interesting articles I’ve come across this week.* [Discover the Oldest Language in the World - Rosetta StoneDiscover which is actually the oldest language in the world, and find out which of the oldest languages are still spoken around the world today.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/cropped-RS-logo-10.png)Rosetta StoneJennifer Gunner![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/oldest-language-in-the-world-min.jpg)](https://blog.rosettastone.com/oldest-language-in-world/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) [Actually, AI is a ‘word calculator’ – but not in the sense you might thinkHow do we make a complex piece of tech easy to understand? An analogy helps – as long as it’s not misleading.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/web-app-logo-192x192-2d05bdd6de6328146de80245d4685946-50.png)The ConversationEldin Milak![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/thumbnail/file-20250908-56-qvj75z.jpg)](https://theconversation.com/actually-ai-is-a-word-calculator-but-not-in-the-sense-you-might-think-264494?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) - Why do some slang words come and go quickly while others have staying power? Linguists explain ([Upworthy](https://www.upworthy.com/linguists-explain-why-some-slang-words-stick-and-some-dont?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com)) - How a deaf quarterback changed sports forever by inventing the huddle ([Smithsonian Magazine](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/deaf-quarterback-changed-sports-forever-inventing-huddle-180987178/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com)) - Paul Hubbard first called for the football team at Gallaudet University to circle around him back in 1894! ## 📚 Books & Media *New (and old) books and media touching on language and linguistics.* ### *Useless etymology: Offbeat word origins for curious minds* Jess Zafarris’ newest book, [*Useless etymology*](https://amzn.to/4krA7qf?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com), hits shelves on October 7! ![Cover of the book “Useless etymology”](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9aI7!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb5f72ef7-b335-42c8-8d0f-f46188c7d20e_1024x512.png "Cover of the book “Useless etymology”") Jess is a fellow content creator ([TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@jesszafarris?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/uselessetymology/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com)), cohost of the wonderful *Words unravelled* podcast ([YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@WordsUnravelled/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com), [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/7yeADN5OX1m9RPImv1mFhb?si=18b43690a3ee41ea&ref=linguisticdiscovery.com), [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/words-unravelled-with-robwords-and-jess-zafarris/id1737751787?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com)), and author of the books [*Words from hell: Unearthing the dark secrets of English etymology*](https://amzn.to/3UQYCSI?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) and [*Once upon a word: A word-origin dictionary for kids*](https://amzn.to/3YH2SGH?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com). Her writing is always fun, effervescent, and super accessible. Jess kindly sent me an early review copy of *Useless etymology*, and it’s a absolute treat to read. She had been [wanting to write this book for years](https://uselessetymology.com/2025/09/10/useless-etymology-the-book-hits-shelves-oct-7/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com), and the culmination of those years of rooting around in etymology (her pun, not mine) and cogitating about it really shows. The result is a book that is more than just a collection of assorted factoids (or factlets if you’re feeling pedantic); instead, it’s a fascinating look at the themes and lessons we can take from etymology. I highly recommend procuring yourself a copy of the book at one of the links below: - [Amazon](https://amzn.to/4krA7qf?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) - [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/110785/9781399809184?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) ### Linguists explain slang trends through history Here’s the video referenced above in which linguists Ben Zimmer and Nicole Holliday discuss the history of slang, and why some words have staying power (but most don’t). ### IPA Wordle ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-WCV!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0cec006c-dd53-4249-ba1c-2a8c63138ebf_397x820.png) Did you know you can play Wordle in the International Phonetic Alphabet? It’s called Heardle! Instead of guessing words using their spelling, you have to guess them using their pronunciations! [Heardle - a sound and word game![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c7/75/c775a216-7ca2-4c5f-96a7-f2defe0fd756/content/images/icon/heardle_square-1.png)a sound and word game](https://joshuamandel.com/heardle/?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com) ## 👋🏼 Til next week! P.S. New linguistics experiment just dropped: ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JkBc!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe18425ae-5720-40af-8496-87ee285b5954_1780x1416.png) 💡 The Amazon links on this site are affiliate links, which means that I earn a small commission from Amazon for purchases made through them (at no extra cost to you). If you’d like to support Linguistic Discovery, purchasing through these links is a great way to do so! I greatly appreciate your support! [Check out my entire Amazon storefront here.](https://www.amazon.com/shop/linguisticdiscovery?ref=linguisticdiscovery.com)