If you’re interested in the origins of words and want a bit of entertainment as well, try HotForWords.com. The site belongs to one Marina Orlova, a philologist, and since she started her own YouTube channel in 2007 explaining the origins of words, her videos have clocked up a staggering 100 million views! That makes her numero uno on Youtube. More views than the Universal Music Group, even. Amazing success. Has the world gone mad on philology? Does everyone suddenly want to know the meaning, or origin, of the word ‘sniper’ for example? Just a wild guess here, no real evidence to support the theory, but could it have something to do with the fact that Marina, apart from being a philology geek, is also quite bubbly and a little on the photogenic side? She certainly has an enormous following, no doubt about that.
