The Spelling Bee Borrowed Words by Century: Tracking When English Adopted Foreign Vocabulary and What It Reveals About Today’s Puzzles

If you’ve ever stared at a Spelling Bee grid wondering why English has so many bizarre-looking words, you’re not alone — and you’re actually asking a surprisingly deep question. The answer almost always comes down to history. English is one of the most promiscuous languages on the planet when it comes to borrowing vocabulary from …