78 Impressive English Facts

88 votes - 84%
33
1. "Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt".
32
2. There is no English word you can write by only using the bottom row of the keyboard.
29
3. The longest English word without a true vowel is "rhythm."
21
4. The letter "J" was the last letter added to the English alphabet.
20
5. Because the English language is so complex, every day the average person will create a sentence that has never been said before.
17
6. The English word 'raccoon' is an adaptation of a native Powhatan word meaning 'animal that scratches with its hands.'
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7. A 1571 law stated that all Englishmen must wear knitted hats on Sundays.
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8. "Fart" is one of the oldest words in the English language.
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9. Some people claim that 'cellar door' is the most beautiful sounding phrase in English.
11
10. The word taxi is spelled the same in English, German, French, Swedish and Portuguese.
10
11. The word "queue" is the only word in the English language that is still pronounced the same way when the last four letters are removed.
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12. The longest word in the English language with no vowels is Rhythms.
9
13. Of all the words in the English language, the word set has the most definitions.
9
14. "WAS IT A CAR OR A CAT I SAW" is the only complete English sentence that, when read in reverse, will be the same.
8
15. What is called a "French kiss" in the English speaking world is known as an "English kiss" in France.
7
16. Almost is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.
7
17. The phrase brand new originates from the Old English phrase, fresh from the fire.
6
18. "The" is the most spoken word in the entire English language.
6
19. The whole of Shakespeare contains only about 20,000 different words - less than half the vocabulary of the average English speaker today.
5
20. The most used letter in the English alphabet is 'E', and 'Q' is the least used.
5
21. The English word ‘dinner’ comes from the French word disner, meaning ‘breakfast’.
5
22. Kim Ung-yong was a child prodigy with an IQ of 210; at 4 years old, he had memorized about 2000 words in both English and German.
4
23. A poll reported that women believe Spain, Brazil and Italy produce the best lovers while the Englishmen were considered "too lazy."
4
24. The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford english dictionary, is Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
4
25. The most difficult tongue-twister in English is ‘pad kid poured curd pulled cod’.
4
26. There is an English word to describe that slight feeling of joy you get from the misfortune of other people - It's 'epicaricacy.'
4
27. Of all the languages in the world, English has the largest vocabulary of about 800,000 words.
4
28. The most common English word in writing around the world is "the".
4
29. The 'sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick' is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.
3
30. Because the English language is so complex, every day the average person will create a sentence that has never been spoken before
3
31. A new English word is created every 98 minutes – About 14 words per day.
3
32. The French often use the expression 'the English have landed' to say a woman is on her period.
3
33. ‘Misspell’ is one of the most commonly misspelled words in the English language.
3
34. "The" is the most spoken word in the English language.
3
35. "Dreamt" is the only words in English that ends with "MT." Sounds like somone dreamt it up!
2
36. In 1883, a man named Jack Ferry crossed the English Channel on a floating tricycle.
2
37. "Almost" is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.
2
38. William Hotten, who wrote the first dictionary of English slang in 1859, died after eating too many pork chops.
2
39. There are 923 words in the English language that break the "i before e" rule. Only 44 words actually follow that rule.
2
40. Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu is the longest place-name in English.
2
41. "E" is the most frequently used letter in the English language.
2
42. "Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis" is an English word that refers to a lung disease that is otherwise known as silicosis.
2
43. In 1940, cellophane polled as the third most beautiful word in the English language, behind mother and memory.
2
44. In the 15th century, English ‘sweating sickness’ killed thousands of people and then disappeared; nobody knows what it was.
2
45. Mastering just 3,000 words in English will make you able to understand around 95% of common texts.
1
46. "Coke" is the 2nd most well understood word in the English language after "Okay."
1
47. Grand Theft Auto and The Price is Right use the same font (Old English Font).
1
48. Shakira can speak English, Spanish, Italian, Arabic and Portuguese fluently.
1
49. The longest English word with all its letters in alphabetical order is ‘Aegilops’, a flowering grass whose name means ‘a herb liked by goats’.
1
50. One of the trickiest tongue twisters in the English language is, "Sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick."
1
51. "Almost" is the longest word in the English language with all its letters in alphabetical order.
1
52. Hawaiian, Icelandic and Zulu have given more words to English than Welsh or Cornish.
1
53. Old English medicines included ‘Allan’s Nipple Liniment’, ‘Grimston’s Eye Snuff ’, ‘Miller’s Worm Plums’ and ‘Italian Bosom Friend’.
1
54. The root of the English word cheese comes from the Latin caseus, which also gives us the word casein, the milk protein that is the basis of cheese.
0
55. The last English woman tried for witchcraft was convicted in 1944.
0
56. An English sentence "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." is perfectly valid without any grammatical errors.
0
57. The longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched."
0
58. The words "twerk," "derp," and "selfie," have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary.
0
59. "Bride" is an old English word meaning "cook."
0
60. There are 923 words in the English language that break the 'I before E' rule. Only 44 words actually follow that rule.
0
61. The number ‘2’ is known by 42% of Slovenian two-year-olds but only 4% of English two-year-olds.
0
62. Medieval English surnames included Crakpot, Halfenaked, Swetinbedde and Gyldenbollockes.
0
63. Jean - Claude Van Damme learned to speak English by watching the cartoon 'The Flintstones'.
0
64. The Forme of Cury, a 14th-century English cookbook, has a recipe for porpoise haggis.
0
65. ‘Time Person of the Year’ contains the first, second and third most commonly used nouns in English, in order.
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66. A panagram is a sentence that contains all 26 letters of the English alphabet. For example: Pack my red box with five dozen quality jugs.
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67. The French Bulldog is English.
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68. Charles Darwin calculated that English soil contained 50,000 worms an acre.
0
69. The English word ‘squirrel’ is particularly difficult for Germans to pronounce.
0
70. The English word "Minion" comes from the French word "Mignon," which means "Cute."
0
71. The longest word in the English language is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconioses.
0
72. "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers; a peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked" is one of the hardest tongue twister in English
0
73. 'Soccer' is not an Americanism, It's short for 'Association Football' and was popularized by Charles Wreford-Brown, captain of the English national team 1894-5.
0
74. Longest English word without any vowel is "twyndyllyngs", which means "twins"
0
75. American Sign Language has more in common with spoken Japanese than it does with spoken English when it comes to grammar
0
76. "Go." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.
0
77. The word "queue" is the only word in the English language that is still pronounced the same way when the last four letters are removed.
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78. For 500 years from the 13th century, 70% of Englishmen were called Robert, John, Thomas, Richard or William.

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