Mysteries of Vernacular: animated etymology

Mysteries of Vernacular is a fun and admirable project from Myriapod Productions comprising short animated films about etymology. Each film sketches the history of a word in the form of a story lasting a couple of minutes.

There are to be 26 in total, one for each letter of the alphabet, So far, assassin, clue, hearse and pants have been completed. The animation is inventive, inviting, and understated, drawing viewers through an old book whose pages inform and amuse as they turn.

Here are the videos for clue:

and hearse:

You can watch (and await) others here. Jessica Oreck researches, creates and directs, while Graham James narrates.

Thanks to Cathy Relf for sending me the link.