How printing helped everyday languages replace Latin

Cheap printed books helped everyday languages replace Latin

Printing made books cheaper and more common, helping more people learn to read. It also made it practical to publish for people who read the languages they spoke every day. These languages gained ground in books that had once been mostly in Latin.

A gift is not always as free as it seems

Giving someone a gift can create an obligation that nobody says aloud. Anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski described societies where receiving a gift carried an expectation of giving something back later, sometimes of equal or greater value. What looks like generosity can also be part of a system of social exchange.

The Bastille became a symbol despite holding only seven prisoners

7 prisoners

When the Bastille was stormed, it held only seven prisoners: four forgers, one mentally ill man, a failed assassin, and a nobleman accused of sexual misconduct. Despite the tiny prison population, its fall became a powerful symbol of the old French regime.

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How printing helped everyday languages replace Latin

Cheap printed books helped everyday languages replace Latin

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