Mysteries of Vernacular is a series of 26 TED-Ed video lessons. Each lesson is focused on one word that often used by English speakers. A history of the word’s origins and evolution of its use is featured in each video lesson. The entire playlist is embedded below beginning with the word “yankee.”

Applications for Education

Mysteries of Vernacular could be an instructive model for your own lessons combining history and language arts. Have your students pick a word or two that they think is common and research it. Then have them create their own short videos in which they explain the history of those words. You might even have them research the dialect of the areas in which they live.