Read carefully: Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. Huh? How did the past tense of <i>sing</i> get to be <i>sang</i>? How do languages across the world differ, and what aspects are universal? Here's an experiment: I've got a cookie. It's chocolate, scrumptious, Canadian, and large. It's a <i>large scrumptious Canadian chocolate cookie</i>. Now imagine I'd said <i>chocolate scrumptious Canadian large cookie</i>. That sounds odd for some reason. Now ask your friends what they would call a cookie that's chocolate, scrumptious, Canadian, and large. Chances are they'll come up with the same order of adjectives. How do we all arrive at the same order?