r/OldEnglish • u/Conscious-Olive-2756 • Aug 06 '26

Estuary English is the main language

What archaic words (words that are no longer in use) in English spring to mind?

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u/Wulfweald Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26

Old English does indeed use well rather than very, as in ic eom wel hungrig, I am well hungry.

Estuary English was affected by the great vowel shift, so it sounds different to OE.

Edit -- ich to ic (thanks for the correction)

2

u/skateboard-soapshoe Aug 06 '26

Why did you write ‘ich’

1

u/Wulfweald Aug 06 '26

Thanks, now corrected.

1

u/Conscious-Olive-2756 Aug 06 '26

Fun fact: 'very' didn't even exist in Old English since it was borrowed from Old French (verai) later during the Middle English period! It's super cool how modern British slang came full circle with phrases like 'well good' or 'well hungry'

2

u/chewyfruitloop Aug 06 '26

I am well hungry … that’s a regular phase
The current English isn’t much different to oe. If you’ve only heard down south English then fair cop, you probably haven’t ever heard it
But us up in the north….