The first person to try reforming English spelling was a twelfth-century priest named Orm.

His system: double every consonant after a short vowel. God became Godd. His own name became Orrm. He wrote an entire book this way, but his system was never copied.

Later reforms were even more drastic. One reformer invented a letter so strange it still can’t be typed on any modern keyboard. Another proposed a new, 40-letter alphabet (pictured).

But despite nine centuries of attempts, almost nothing has stuck.

The question is: why not?