Language facts and facts about languages.
169 facts on this shelf
Prairie dogs, those little pups popping in and out of holes on vacant lots and rural rangeland, are talking up a storm. They have different "words" for tall human in yellow shirt, short human in green shirt, coyote, deer, red-tailed hawk and many other creatures.
There are arctic legends that speak of a time when man could understand and speak with whales. In fact, many legends worldwide speak of a time when people and animals understood each other.
A 1,200-pound horse eats about seven times it's own weight each year.
"I am." and "I do." are the shortest complete sentences in the English language.
English is the dominant international language in communications, science, business, aviation, entertainment, and diplomacy and also on the Internet.
The Bible has been translated into Klingon.
The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.
Hershey's Kisses are called that because the machine that makes them looks like it's kissing the conveyor belt.
Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of their unwanted people without killing them used to burn their houses down - hence the expression "to get fired."
When possums are playing 'possum, they are not "playing." They actually pass out from sheer terror.
There is no single cat called the panther. The name is commonly applied to the leopard, but it is also used to refer to the puma and the jaguar. A black panther is really a black leopard.
The Canary Islands were not named for a bird called a canary. They were named after a breed of large dogs. The Latin name was Canariae insulae - "Island of Dogs."
Alma mater means bountiful mother, a title Romans gave to goddesses. In latin it means nourishing mother.
China has more English speakers than the United States.
The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.
The longest word in the English language is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
There are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet.
Alma mater means nourishing mother in Latin, To the romans it meant "bountiful mother."
In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes when you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase, "Goodnight, sleep tight."
The term "the whole 9 yards" came from WWII fighter pilots in the Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the .50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet, before being loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all
their ammo at a target, it got "the whole 9 yards."
In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's."
China has more English speakers than the United States.
The sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." uses every letter in the alphabet. It was developed by Western Union to Test telex/twx communications
Obstreperous means resisting control or restraint in a difficult manner; unruly.... use it against someone, smile, and they'll think it was a compliment.
The longest one syllable words in the English Language are screeched and strengths
The ball of chewed food in your mouth (before you swallow) is called a bolus. Introduce this fact to the dinner table in polite company.
Initial public offering (IPO) — The first time a company sells stock to the public. An IPO is a type of a primary offering, which occurs whenever a company sells new stock, and differs from a secondary offering, which is the public sale of previously issued securities, usually held by insiders. Some people say IPO stands for "Immediate Profit Opportunities." More cynicIt's Probably Overpriced."
Mandarin Chinese has more native speakers than any other language on Earth, close to a billion people.
India's constitution officially recognizes 22 languages in its Eighth Schedule, and hundreds more are spoken across the country.
Written Japanese mixes three scripts: kanji (characters borrowed from Chinese), hiragana, and katakana.
Brazil's official language is Portuguese, not Spanish. That makes it the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas.
Canada has two official languages, English and French, both made official under the Official Languages Act of 1969.
Mexico has the largest Spanish-speaking population in the world, more than Spain itself.
"Dachshund" means "badger dog" in German, which tells you exactly what the breed was built for.
In Germany, the German Shorthaired Pointer is called the "Deutsch Kurzhaar," which literally translates to "German Shorthair."
The Bengal's name comes from the Asian leopard cat's scientific name, Prionailurus bengalensis.
The phrase "long in the tooth" comes from horses, whose gums recede as they age, making their teeth look longer. That's also why people check a horse's teeth to estimate its age.
A chimpanzee named Washoe learned around 350 signs of American Sign Language, making her one of the first non-human animals taught to communicate with human signs.
Books printed in Europe before 1501 are called incunabula, from a Latin word for "cradle," because they come from the infancy of printing.
The term "Renaissance" was popularized in the 1800s by historians like Jules Michelet and Jacob Burckhardt, long after the period itself ended.
James Watt came up with the term "horsepower" to help sell steam engines by comparing their power to the work of horses.
The Magna Carta was written in Latin, the language of official documents in medieval England.
"Sushi" actually refers to the vinegared rice, not raw fish. Raw fish served on its own without rice is called sashimi.
"Al dente" means "to the tooth" in Italian and describes pasta cooked so it's still slightly firm when you bite it.
Food historian Jeffrey Pilcher suggests that the word "taco" may have come from Mexican silver miners, who called small paper-wrapped gunpowder charges "tacos."
One popular explanation for the name is that "French" refers to "frenching," an old cooking term for cutting food into thin strips.
The word "curry" likely comes from the Tamil word "kari," which reached English through Portuguese and British traders.
"Corolla" comes from a Latin word meaning "small crown," which fits Toyota's tradition of crown-themed names like the Crown, Corona, and Camry.
"Volkswagen" means "people's car" in German.
The Volkswagen Golf is named after the Gulf Stream, "Golfstrom" in German, not the sport.
The Ford Model T was nicknamed the "Tin Lizzie."
The name "Camry" comes from "kanmuri," the Japanese word for "crown."
"RAV4" stands for "Recreational Active Vehicle with 4-wheel drive."
The Chevrolet Corvette is named after a small, fast type of warship.
The name "Jeep" may come from "GP," short for "general purpose," or from Eugene the Jeep, a character in the "Popeye" comic strip.
Tesla's model names, the S, 3, X, and Y, spell out "S3XY." Tesla used a 3 because Ford owned the "Model E" trademark.
The word "paper" comes from "papyrus," the writing material ancient Egyptians made from reeds.
The word "vaccine" comes from "vacca," the Latin word for cow, because the first vaccine used cowpox.
Alexander Graham Bell wanted people to answer the phone by saying "ahoy," but Thomas Edison's suggestion of "hello" caught on instead.
The word "television" was coined in 1900 by Constantin Perskyi at a conference in Paris.
"Selfie" was named Oxford Dictionaries' Word of the Year in 2013.
The word "soccer" actually comes from England. It's slang based on "association" from "association football," the sport's official name.
One popular theory says "love," meaning zero in tennis, comes from the French "l'oeuf" (egg), because an egg looks like a zero, but the origin is disputed.
The football huddle is credited to Gallaudet University, a school for deaf students, around 1894. Players huddled so opponents couldn't see their sign language.
The golf term "birdie" comes from Atlantic City in 1899, when a player called a great shot "a bird of a shot."
A try in rugby is worth five points, and it's called a "try" because it originally gave the team a chance to try a kick at goal.
The name "Texas" comes from the Caddo word "taysha," meaning "friends," and the state motto is "Friendship."
New York City is one of the most linguistically diverse cities in the world, with an estimated 800 or more languages spoken.
New York City's nickname "the Big Apple" was popularized in the 1920s by sportswriter John Fitz Gerald and later revived by a 1970s tourism campaign.
The Hawaiian alphabet has just 13 letters.
Hawaii has two official languages: English and Hawaiian.
The name "Colorado" comes from Spanish for "colored red."
London is one of the most linguistically diverse cities in the world, with an estimated 300 or more languages spoken.
The saying "all roads lead to Rome" comes from the Roman Empire's huge road network, which centered on a golden milestone in the Roman Forum.
"Beijing" means "northern capital," while "Tokyo" means "eastern capital."
Thai people call Bangkok "Krung Thep," which means "City of Angels."
"Kremlin" means "fortress" in Russian.
Red Square's name comes from the Russian word "krasnaya," which once meant "beautiful."
Cairo's Arabic name, "Al-Qahira," means "the Victorious."
Amsterdam's name comes from a dam built on the Amstel River.
Homer Simpson's "D'oh!" was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2001.
A cluster of bananas is called a "hand," and a single banana is called a "finger."
The term "banana republic" was coined by writer O. Henry in 1904 to describe a politically unstable country whose economy depended on exports like bananas.
In English, "orange" was the name of the fruit before it became the name of the color.
The word "strawberry" may come from the straw used to mulch the plants.
The pineapple got its name because it looks like a pine cone.
The word "avocado" comes from the Nahuatl word "āhuacatl."
"Alligator pear" is an old name for the avocado.
Hydrogen was named by French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, and its name means "water-former" because burning it produces water.
Helium is named after Helios, the Greek god of the Sun.
The word "carbon" comes from the Latin "carbo," meaning charcoal.
Gold's chemical symbol, Au, comes from the Latin word "aurum."
Iron's chemical symbol, Fe, comes from the Latin word "ferrum."
Uranium was discovered in 1789 and named after the planet Uranus, discovered in 1781.
Sodium's symbol, Na, comes from the Latin "natrium."
Mercury's symbol, Hg, comes from the Latin "hydrargyrum," meaning "liquid silver."
The phrase "mad as a hatter" is linked to hatmakers who were poisoned by mercury used to make felt.
Mercury is named after the planet Mercury and the Roman god.
Mary's name in Hebrew was Miriam.
Saint Peter's original name was Simon. Jesus gave him the name Cephas, or Peter, which means "rock."
A "Damascus moment" means a sudden change of heart, and it comes from Saint Paul's conversion.
"Pop" music is short for "popular" music.
"Despacito" spent 16 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and it was the first mostly Spanish-language number one since "Macarena" in 1996.
The name "the blues" may come from the phrase "blue devils," meaning sadness.
Toots and the Maytals' 1968 song "Do the Reggay" was one of the first songs to use the word "reggae."
Shakespeare is credited with the first recorded use of hundreds of English words, including "eyeball," "swagger," and "lonely."
Only six signatures by Shakespeare are known to survive, and he spelled his name in different ways in them.
"Dickensian" describes poor, grim conditions like those in Dickens's novels.
George Orwell's "1984" made terms like "Big Brother," "doublethink," and "thoughtcrime" part of everyday language.
J.R.R. Tolkien worked on the Oxford English Dictionary, researching words like "walrus" and "wasp."
J.R.R. Tolkien invented languages, including the Elvish languages Quenya and Sindarin.
"Hang" means "hand" in the Bernese German dialect.
"Didgeridoo" is probably not an Aboriginal word. One Aboriginal name for the instrument is "yidaki."
The name "armonica" comes from the Italian word for harmony.
The waterphone's name is a pun on its inventor's last name, Waters.
The jaw harp, sometimes called a "Jew's harp," has no known connection to Jewish people, and the name's origin is unclear.
"Nyckel" means "key" in Swedish.
"Otamatone" comes from the Japanese word for a tadpole-shaped musical note.
The scientific term for stomach growling is "borborygmi."
In Dutch, "Van Gogh" is pronounced with throaty sounds that are very different from the common English pronunciation.
The phrase "15 minutes of fame" is attributed to Andy Warhol.
The most widely accepted plural of "octopus" is "octopuses," since the word comes from Greek, not Latin.
A group of jellyfish is called a "smack" or a "bloom."
"Manta" means "blanket" in Spanish.
"Narwhal" comes from an Old Norse word meaning "corpse whale."
Manatees are called "sea cows" because they graze on plants.
The word "tomato" comes from the Nahuatl word "tomatl."
"Broccoli" comes from the Italian word for "little sprouts."
Iceberg lettuce got its name because it was shipped packed in ice.
Romaine lettuce is named after Rome.
The word "lettuce" comes from the Latin word for milk.
Christopher Columbus named chili plants "peppers."
The word "tulip" comes from a Turkish word for turban, because of the flower's shape.
The word "orchid" comes from the Greek word for testicle, because of the shape of its roots.
The name "daisy" comes from "day's eye," because the flower opens in the morning and closes at night.
The phrase "pushing up daisies" became popular during WWI.
Gerbera daisies are named after Traugott Gerber.
The carnation's genus name, Dianthus, means "flower of the gods."
The word "lavender" likely comes from the Latin "lavare," meaning "to wash."
"Chrysanthemum" comes from Greek words meaning "gold flower."
B.K.S. Iyengar's 1966 book "Light on Yoga" became a classic and has been translated into many languages.
The phrase "poker face" comes from poker players hiding their emotions so opponents can't read their hands.
Blackjack got its name from an old bonus payout for a hand with the ace of spades and a black jack.
"Uno" means "one" in Spanish and Italian.
The name "gin rummy" is a pun on rum.
Aristotle's school, the Lyceum, gave us the word "peripatetic" because he reportedly taught while walking around.
The US Department of Defense named its Ada programming language after Ada Lovelace.
"Selling the Brooklyn Bridge" refers to con artists who pretended to sell the bridge.
William Herschel wanted to name Uranus "George's Star," after King George III.
Pluto was named by Venetia Burney, an 11-year-old girl in England.
Physicist John Wheeler popularized the term "black hole" in 1967.
The terms "uppercase" and "lowercase" come from printers storing capital-letter type in the upper case and small-letter type in the lower case.
The word "transistor" was coined by Bell Labs engineer John Pierce as a mash-up of "transfer" and "resistor."
Egyptian hieroglyphs were deciphered in 1822 by French scholar Jean-François Champollion, using the Rosetta Stone, which had the same text in three scripts.
Cleopatra was from a Greek ruling family and was reportedly the first in her dynasty to learn the Egyptian language.
Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian all developed from Latin, the language of ancient Rome.
The word "alphabet" comes from "alpha" and "beta," the first two letters of the Greek alphabet.
"Mesopotamia" means "land between rivers," referring to the Tigris and Euphrates.
English words like "chocolate," "tomato," "avocado," and "chili" come from Nahuatl, the Aztec language.
The Aztecs called themselves the Mexica.
The Inca called their empire Tawantinsuyu, meaning "four parts together."
"Viking" originally described an activity, sea raiding, not an ethnic group.
English words like "sky," "egg," and "knife" come from Old Norse.
Mount Hood was named in 1792 after British admiral Samuel Hood.
The word "anesthesia" was suggested by physician and writer Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
X-rays got their name because "X" stood for an unknown type of radiation.
The word "stethoscope" comes from Greek words meaning "chest" and "examine."
MRI was originally called "nuclear magnetic resonance imaging," but "nuclear" was dropped to avoid scaring patients.
CRISPR stands for "Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats."