# How far in the past was English understandable to me?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-in-the-past-was-english-understandable-to-me/191842>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 30, 2003, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-in-the-past-was-english-understandable-to-me/191842 "2003-07-30T05:03:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Shadowfyre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfyre/32/9972_2.png) [@Shadowfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadowfyre)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-in-the-past-was-english-understandable-to-me/191842/1 "2003-07-30T05:03:35Z")

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Before I ask my question, let’s get a few assumptions out of the way:

1. I am an average American male who only knows American English, midwestern accent (though I am teaching myself Italian, albeit rather slowly).
2. I have a time machine that will take me to London at any point in the past.
3. I’m not worried about reading, only speaking/listening.
4. I can understand an average Londoner in 2003. (please no “divided by a common language” jokes)

So now, how far back in time could I go and still communicate effectively with Londoners?

Just out of curiosity.

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**Author:** ![Bob55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Bob55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob55)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-in-the-past-was-english-understandable-to-me/191842/2 "2003-07-30T06:17:57Z")

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There was a great thread on this exact question just last week.[Here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=200542)