The 500 Most Commonly Used Words in the English Language

"Based on the combined results of British English, American English and Australian English surveys of contemporary sources in English: newspapers, magazines, books, TV, radio and real life conversations - the language as it is written and spoken today."

http://www.world-english.org/english500.htm

Online Etymological Dictionary

" This is a map of the wheel-ruts of modern English. Etymologies are not definitions; they're explanations of what our words meant and how they sounded 600 or 2,000 years ago.



The dates beside a word indicate the earliest year for which there is a surviving written record of that word (in English, unless otherwise indicated). This should be taken as approximate, especially before about 1700, since a word may have been used in conversation for hundreds of years before it turns up in a manuscript that has had the good fortune to survive the centuries"



http://www.etymonline.com/

How to Speak 19th Century

"Those of us who work at living history museums have always worked to purge modern words and expressions from our vocabularies. However, the people we portray had a richer language than just modern English without "okay" and "have a nice day". By finding some of their words and phrases, we can add an extra dimension to our interpretation of their time that simply can't be found in facts, costumes, or artifacts."

http://celticfringe.net/history/vocab.htm

The Eggcorn Database

"In September 2003, Mark Liberman reported (Egg corns: folk etymology, malapropism, mondegreen, ???) an incorrect yet particularly suggestive creation: someone had written “egg corn” instead of “acorn”. It turned out that there was no established label for this type of non-standard reshaping. Erroneous as it may be, the substitution involved more than just ignorance: an acorn is more or less shaped like an egg; and it is a seed, just like grains of corn. So if you don’t know how acorn is spelled, egg corn actually makes sense."

http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/

EVT 4000e

"if you buy an electric moped like my EVT 4000e, it will be the best money you spend. Ever. Quite simply, I have been blown away by it. It’s the best-kept secret on the roads."

http://www.evuk.co.uk/hotwires/rawstuff/art66.html

"I love my EVT 4000E. Several times a week it takes me up steep hills and along a rough, dirt track to visit my horse. I was determined not to own a car when we moved her to a new yard half way up a Welsh mountain, and this scooter has made it all possible. It is pretty slow up the steep hills (15 mph) but it gets me there and has never let me down. I have done up to 30 miles on one charge"

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews61315.html

Don Dunklee's DIY Solar Cycle

"To pull off this feat, he installed two sets of folding panels that generate 120 watts in good sun. The bike's batteries hold 2400 watt-hours, so a Michigan summer's 9 hours of daily sun charges the battery about 1/2 full. Don estimates his ride uses only 25% of that. So, even with the occasional cloudy day (unfortunately, not uncommon in Michigan) doesn't mean the bike is dead. But, just in case, the factory charging apparatus is still intact."

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/04/don_dunkees_diy.php