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Ever wonder why we have silent letters randomly nestled into certain words? Think about the “b” in “doubt,” the “p” in “receipt,” the “s” in “isle” … or “aisle” or “island” for that matter. How the heck did those get there?! Sure, the English language is notoriously a hodgepodge of words from different cultures, but usually there’s a reason behind it all. Even if that reason is bonkers.

The good news: There is an answer to this linguistic riddle. The bad news: As etymology enthusiast Rob Words explains in a fascinating video, the answer might infuriate you.

A logical theory would be that once upon a time, these letters were actually pronounced. Rob previously shared how this was the case for the letter “k” when it falls at the beginning of a word … thus ruining Arthur and Ka-nights of the Round Table forever.

But no. The truth is, as Rob puts it, much more “irritating.” Certain letters were deliberately put in by Renaissance scholars, who became interested in learning the Greek and Latin roots of English words. Which would have been fine, had they kept their interests to themselves.

Instead, they forced them into the public consciousness by inserting certain letters from the original Greek/Latin word into the (then) modern language known as Middle English, which was primarily influenced by old French.

Take, for example, the word “debt,” which comes from the Latin word “debitum.” By the time it was in Middle English, however, it became “dette.” Which is still how we pronounce it today. That makes it a perfectly fine spelling, don’t you think? But nooooo, nerdy nostalgia took over, and here we are, with words that carry a not-so-subtle (or “soutil,” as it once was) nod to the ancient past.

This is all just further proof that the English language is a glorious mess—without a “doute.”

Hey there, lovely people. Let’s talk about the kindness of everyday people.

A few weeks ago, I hit a deer on a dark, two-lane highway while driving a carload of kids home from a day at the theme park. In the 20 or so minutes it took to assess the damage to the car, three different strangers stopped to help me.

The first checked to see if we were OK. I said we were, but that I didn’t know how to get the deer out of the middle of the road so other cars wouldn’t run over it. He took care of the deer for me.

The second stopped as I was trying to figure out if the car was drivable. There was a section of the bumper that was dangling on the ground, and he helped me get it off so it wouldn’t drag while I drove. He also checked the wheels and the lights and looked for leaking fluids, then said it looked like we were good to go.

The third stopped just as I was getting into the car to drive the rest of the way home. By then, everything had been taken care of so I thanked them for stopping and we all went on our way.

We often hear the stories of bad human behavior because they grab people’s attention, but we don’t hear as often about the average kind deeds strangers perform all the time. Hitting that deer wasn’t fun, but it turned out to be a good reminder that most people really are kind.

We have some stories of human kindness for you in this week’s “10 things” list, as well as some sweet animal videos, a little Jack Black and Elton John, a touching mother-son reunion, the world’s most delightful hockey goalie and more. Enjoy!

1. Umm, why did no one at my high school job fair tell me ‘panda snuggler’ was a real job?!

u201cWho wants this job? ud83dude0au201d

— Buitengebieden (@Buitengebieden)
1665821393

I feel like this would have been a vital piece of information to have on hand when choosing a career path. Failed by the system, I tell you. Sign me up for all the panda snuggling courses ASAP.

2. Mic’d up hockey goalie delights people with his wholesome self-talk.

@nickthegoalie_1

Mine! #hockey #goalie #nhl #hockeyboys

As one commenter put it, “This is how I imagine a golden retriever’s internal monologue.” Yes, 100% golden retriever energy, and people can’t get enough of it. See more mic’d up videos from Nick the Goalie here.

3. Baby bird hasn’t figured out that the food doesn’t automatically enter its mouth.

u201cBirds are fed by their parents in their infancy. When the time comes to feed themselves, there can be some confusion when the food does not go into their mouth by itself.u201d

— Fascinating (@Fascinating)
1666133377

Oh, sweet baby birdie, this is so adorable and hilarious. “Why doesn’t this worm get in ma bellyyyy?” This is why we teach kids to cook and clean before they leave the house.

4. Jack Black takes the time to serenade a ‘School of Rock’ fan.

See on Instagram

Abraham is a 15-year-old who has a rare mitochondrial disease and is in palliative care. At a fundraising walk hosted by Jack Black, he got to meet the “School of Rock” star, and their interaction was such a pure, sweet moment. Love it when celebrities take the time to genuinely connect with someone. Read the full story here.

5. The kindness of this taxi driver and his wife is a prime example of the best of humanity.

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These kinds of everyday human connections that don’t make headlines happen far more than we know. Here’s to people extending an extra measure of kindness just because they can.

6. Watch the incomparable Sir Elton John pull out a crumpled piece of paper and play ‘Tiny Dancer’ for the first time.

u201cud83cudfa4ELTON JOHNnnud83cudfb5 TINY DANCER (1970)nnJust days after writing it, Elton pulls out a crumpled piece of paper, and plays his new song for the very first time.u201d

— James Leighton (@James Leighton)
1666111049

Wow. What a fun treat to see Elton John casually uncrumpling Bernie Taupin’s “Tiny Dancer” lyrics like a high schooler pulling out a homework assignment, and then playing, for the first time, a tune so familiar to us now. The birth of a legendary song, and he makes it look so effortless. Amazing. Read the full story here.

7. People share dance moves from their homelands and it’s pure delight.

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Dance is such a wonderful way for humans to express themselves, and experiencing different cultures through it is just delightful.

8. The way this guy cares for his cat, Professor Pouncey, is the kind of pampering we all deserve.

@professor_pouncey

Did someone say… Heated Basket Version 2.0…? #bengal #cat #ebike #electricbike

Putting in my request for a heated bike basket big enough for a human, please and thank you.

9. Mom surprised her son when she came home from military deployment early.

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And right after his sweet tribute to her, too. Dang, who is cutting all these onions?

10. Let’s hippity hop into the weekend with the enthusiasm of this horse race-loving doggo.

u201cTwitter needs this u2764ufe0fu201d

— Puppies Heaven ud83dudc36 (@Puppies Heaven ud83dudc36)
1665789416

Hope that brought some smiles to your world! Come back again next Friday for another roundup of feel-good finds. (And if you’d like to get them in your inbox each week, you can subscribe to our free email newsletter, The Upworthiest, here.)

Taylor Swift’s new album Midnights is out now and one thing people have picked up on is just how much Swift swears on it. (Vulture even has a ranking of “Swift’s Swear-iest Midnights Lyrics.”) The question is when it comes to profanity, how does Midnights rank in Swift’s discography?

It turns out Midnights is No. 1 and it’s not even really a contest.

A Reddit post from last year, shared following the release of Red (Taylor’s Version), showed that Swift’s album with the most swears (classified here as uses of the words “f*ck,” “sh*t,” “b*tch,” “hell,” “g*ddamn,” “damn,” and alternate forms of those words) was Evermore, with 18 total uses of swear words. That data could use to be updated now that Midnights has arrived, so I crunched the numbers.

Using the lyrics from the album’s songs, as listed on Genius, I tallied the uses of the aforementioned curses across the album (excluding the songs from the expanded 3am Edition) and found there were 28 swears: ten uses of “sh*t,” seven of “f*ck,” six of “damn,” three of “g*ddamn,” and two of “hell.” Add the mention of “dickhead” in “Question…?” and we have a total of 29.

As far as the song with the most curses, “Lavender Haze” is the winner with ten (“damn” six times and “sh*t” four). In a three-way tie for second with four swears each are “Maroon,” “Vigilante Sh*t,” and “Karma.”

Midnights is out now via Republic. Get it here.

Politics can often be a nasty business, but British politics — at least to Americans — are nasty, confusing, and often downright humiliating. Liz Truss learned this lesson the hard way. On Thursday, Britain’s newest prime minister, who has managed to muck up just about everything since coming into office six weeks ago, announced that she would be stepping down from the role — a decision that ensures Truss will go down in the history books as the shortest-serving PM in more than 300 years of British Parliament.

Trevor Noah’s reaction to the news: “GOD DAMN, BRITAIN! Another one? Another prime minister? And this one only lasted 44 days. Boris Johnson had COVID parties that were longer than that.”

But the part of the story that The Daily Show host found most amusing was that the Daily Star, a British tabloid, had pretty much called it. They correctly guessed that a head of lettuce would last longer than Truss:

The reason Liz Truss lost her job is because she came into office making worse decisions than a company social media manager during Black History Month: Terrible budget plans, firing finance ministers, going back on her own policies, sending the Queen to meet Jesus. Things were going so badly, SO BADLY, that the British press trolled her with vegetables.

Noah had to take a moment to compose himself when delivering the news, which he called “humiliating.”

“Imagine being so bad at your job that you lose a joke contest. Because at first, people were like, ‘Ha ha, I bet she can’t last longer than a head of lettuce.’ And then by the end of it, they were like: ‘Should the lettuce be prime minister?’”

It’s not the worst idea. Or, at least, it’s better than electing Piers Morgan to the post.

You can watch the full clip above, beginning at the 4:00 mark.

Anyone in possession of eyes and ears who watched Marco Rubio debate Val Demings earlier this week saw the Florida senator repeatedly had his ass handed to him by his Democratic challenger. But Sean Hannity must not have been paying attention.

On Thursday night, the Fox News host welcomed Rubio as a guest and commended his “very strong performance” during Tuesday’s debate. Hannity then took it one step further and noted how “every candidate running for office” should watch Rubio versus Demings, “because you wiped the floor in that debate,” which is, um, a stretch to say the least. And Rubio seemed to know that. Which is why he went on to whine about how unfair it all was. On the topic of abortion specifically, Rubio complained, Democrats want to operate in a sort of nebulous space:

Unfortunately, in my debate, the moderators never pressed [Demings] on it. They asked me like eight questions about abortion and never asked her one about, ‘Well, what restrictions or what limitations would you support?’ And I think you’re seeing reporters ask that question of the White House and Joe Biden has the same answer. He says it’s Roe v. Wade liability, but they’ll never tell you what that is… They never get asked about it.

Rubio used this woe-is-me mindset to push for some fundraising, telling viewers that the upcoming elections are basically the most important you’ll ever take part in — and that Democrats are raising a sh*t ton of money from woke liberals, who are encouraged by the woke media. “And by the way, they’re running a ton of money,” Rubio said of the Dems. “Val Demings raised $20 million in three months from liberals all across America… So I always ask people to go on my website and help in any way you can. Because if you saw that debate, you realized pretty quickly that the media — even the local media — is not going to be helping me with my message.”

Taylor Swift keeps details of her six-year relationship with actor Joe Alwyn private, so fans cherish any Alwyn-Swift breadcrumb they can get. Earlier this week, it was revealed that Alwyn’s pseudonym William Bowery co-wrote on Midnights track “Sweet Nothing,” and she shared that opener “Lavender Haze” is about protecting her and Alwyn’s love from public speculation. But the arrival of Midnights today (October 21) brought to light that Swift’s 10th studio album might not exist at all without Alwyn.

“Midnights is a wild ride of an album and I couldn’t be happier that my co-pilot on this adventure was @jackantonoff,” Swift captioned a celebratory Instagram carousel. “He’s my friend for life (presumptuous I know but I stand by it) and we’ve been making music together for nearly a decade HOWEVER… this is our first album we’ve done with just the two of us as main collaborators. We’d been toying with ideas and had written a few things we loved, but Midnights actually really coalesced and flowed out of us when our partners (both actors) did a film together in Panama. Jack and I found ourselves back in New York, alone, recording every night, staying up late and exploring old memories and midnights past.”

Antonoff is reportedly engaged to Margaret Qualley, who played Alwyn’s very intense love interest in Stars At Noon. The A24 romantic thriller’s official synopsis reads, “In 1984’s Nicaragua, a mysterious English businessman and a headstrong American journalist strike up a romance as they soon become embroiled in a dangerous labyrinth of lies and conspiracies and are forced to try and escape the country.”

For those keeping Easter egg notes at home, “Labyrinth” is the tenth track on Midnights and finds Swift reckoning with lost love and “getting over you my whole life” while falling in love all over again.

Stars At Noon hits Hulu next Friday (October 28).

Midnights is out now via Republic. Get it here.

It struck midnight, and Taylor Swift hasn’t looked back. The perennial pop star and songwriter unleashed Midnights, her 10th studio album, onto the world. But as with anything Swift, Midnights isn’t just an album — it’s a visual album.

The 11-time Grammy winner appeared during the third quarter of Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football last night (October 20) to share an aptly teased teaser trailer. The announcement was “Midnights Music Movies.”

“Hey, it’s Taylor,” Swift said on the broadcast, introducing the trailer. “I just wanted to first of all say thank you so much to Amazon for giving me an opportunity to show you guys a first-look teaser trailer of the secret projects that I’ve been working on for a really long time. Those projects are the ‘Midnights Music Movies,’ the music videos that I’ve made for this album to sort of explore visually the world of this record. And I love storytelling. I love songwriting. I love writing videos. I love directing them. And this was a really fun opportunity to work again with the cinematographer Rina Yang, who was my collaborator on the All Too Well 10-minute short film.”

Swift expressed satisfaction in stretching her creativity to “do different things this time around,” including co-star with bona fide actors. At the 50-second trailer’s end, credits rolled revealing that her co-stars were Jack Antonoff, Laith Ashley, Mike Birbiglia, Laura Dern (!), John Early, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Alana Haim, Danielle Haim, Este Haim, Pat McGrath, and Dita Von Teese.

It began with “Anti-Hero” this morning (October 21), directed and written by Swift. The glimmering track finds Swift examining her pitfalls — both externally perceived and internally felt — and the video is a satire on her growing old with nobody but her oversized clone and cats until her funeral, where her estranged children bicker over Swift not leaving them anything in her will. Swift’s adult children are hilariously played by comedian Birbiglia, Early (30 Rock, Search Party), and Ellis (It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia). It might be worth noting Early’s past on 30 Rock, and the fact Swift perhaps cast him specifically in the “Anti-Hero” video because of the line in the second verse, “Sometimes, I feel like everybody is a sexy baby.”

Watch the video below.

Midnights is out now via Republic. Get it here.

Before House of the Dragon premiered, the show or movie it was most often compared to in reviews (besides Game of Thrones, of course) was Succession. I’m guilty of this. But now that we’re nine episodes into the season, with only the finale to go, one thing has become abundantly clear: House of the Dragon is basically Shrek.

To be fair, life itself is basically Shrek. But think about it: both House of the Dragon and Shrek have dragons, obviously, but Alicent’s green dress is similar to what Fiona wears; King Viserys and King Harold have comparative deaths (except for the fact that Harold is a, uh, frog at the time); and yes, there’s foot stuff, too. Still convinced? Have a look.

There’s even more similarities:

If Smash Mouth shows up in the season finale, like Mastodon on Thrones, that’s why.

Speaking of the finale, House of the Dragon writer and executive producer Sara Hess told the Hollywood Reporter that we’ll see a “different side” of not-internet boyfriend Daemon in the episode. “And right now, we’re writing season two and figuring out, what is the nature of his relationship with Rhaenyra? There are many interpretations [in author George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood] to that,” she said.

House of the Dragon season one ends this Sunday, October 23.

(Via Reddit)

When Taylor Swift’s new album Midnights arrived after being announced at the MTV VMAs at the end of August, many fans missed Aaron Dessner, the musician from The National and Big Red Machine who collaborated with Swift on the fan-favorite albums Folklore and Evermore.

Luckily, Swift met those needs with the deluxe version of Midnights (dubbed the 3am Edition), which arrived at, yes, 3 a.m. ET with seven extra tracks. Three of them are co-written and co-produced by Dessner: “The Great War,” “High Infidelity,” and “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve.” He also co-wrote and co-produced “Hits Different” from the deluxe CD edition.

He seemed to tease a role on the record when a few days ago he took to Twitter to share a cryptic message: “Always have to remember things aren’t necessarily how they seem!” After the 3am Edition dropped, Dessner tweeted, “congrats @taylorswift13 @jackantonoff and all who contributed to the brilliant main album and [applause] to the chaotic 3am deluxe shift also…..incredibly honored as always to help make songs with you.”

In July of 2021, the “Cruel Summer” singer also wrote about her appreciation for working with him: “I can’t believe I get to work with Aaron Dessner. When Aaron came into my life, I was ushered into his world of free-flowing creativity where you don’t overthink, you just make music. His generosity of spirit and humility bleeds into every part of his life.”

Listen to “The Great War” above and “High Infidelity” and “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” below.

Midnights is out now via Republic. Get it here.

After making a brief appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Charlie Cox fully returned as Daredevil in the final two episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and man, did the fans love it. Like a lot of people, Cox just assumed Marvel would reboot the character with a new actor when Netflix pulled the plug on his Daredevil series ahead of the arrival of Disney+. However, the “Save Daredevil” campaign kept fighting, and now, Cox is set for a brand new series, Daredevil: Born Again, which will continue his character’s adventures in the MCU (for real this time).

While talking to Marvel.com about his well-received appearance in She-Hulk, Cox made sure to credit the fan campaign for fighting like a devil when he could not:

MARVEL.COM: You’ve joined the MCU. Daredevil is back. Everyone is over the moon about this. Is there anything you want to say to the fans who have literally been begging for this to happen for the last few years?

CHARLIE COX: There’s so much I want to say. Whatever happens to my career going forward from this point on, I owe most of it to the “Save Daredevil” campaign. That even when I had lost hope years ago, they did not, and they continued to campaign and support. And over the years, I’ve met many of them, and they’re such an enthusiastic, passionate crowd.

Speaking of fighting, Cox also revealed that he’s already training for Born Again, and he’s adding some MMA to Matt Murdock’s already brutal repertoire.

“That’s something that I would like to be more familiar with when we get into this other show so that when we do see him in combat, we are able to at times recognize rather than just someone who’s like a bit of a brawler, someone that has had training in various disciplines and is able to employ certain techniques depending on who he’s fighting,” Cox said.

(Via Marvel.com)