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English is the
most widespread language in the world and is more widely
spoken and written than any other language.
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Over 400 million
people use the English vocabulary as a mother tongue only
surpassed in numbers, but not in distribution by speakers of
the many varieties of Chinese.
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Over 700 million
people, speak English, as a foreign language.
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Of all the
world's languages (over 2,700) English is arguably the richest
in vocabulary; and that the Oxford English Dictionary lists
about 500,000 words, and a further half-million technical and
scientific terms remain uncatalogued.
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Three-quarters of
the world's mail, telexes and cables are in English
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The main language
used throughout the world on the internet is English.
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More than half of
the world's technical and scientific periodicals are in
English.
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English is the
medium for 80% of the information stored in the world's
computers.
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5 of the largest
broadcasting companies in the world (CBS, NBC, ABC, BBC and
CBC) transmit in English, reaching millions and millions of
people all over the world.
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Over two-thirds of the world's scientists read in English.
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Three quarters of the world's mail is written in English.
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Eighty per cent of the world's electronically stored
information is in English.
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Of
the estimated forty million users of the Internet, some eighty
per cent communicate in English, but this is expected to
decrease to forty per cent as speakers of other languages get
online."
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'Stewardesses' is the longest word typed with only the left
hand.
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'Lollipop' is the longest word typed with your right hand.
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'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog' uses every
letter of the alphabet.
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There are two words in the English language that have all five
vowels in order: 'abstemious' and 'facetious.'
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'Typewriter' is the longest word that can be made using the
letters only on one row of the keyboard.
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'Rhythm' is a rare six letter word in English with no vowels
in it.
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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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Of all the words in the English
language, the word 'set' has the most definitions.
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What is called a " French kiss"
in the English speaking world is known as an " English kiss"
in France.
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" Almost" is the longest word in
the English language with all the letters in alphabetical
order.
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"Rhythms" is the longest English
word without the normal vowels, a, e, i, o, or u.
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English is the most widespread
language in the world and is more widely spoken and written
than any other language.
-
Over 400 million people use the
English vocabulary as a mother tongue.
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Over 700 million people speak
English as a foreign language.
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Of all the world's languages
(over 2,700) English is arguably the richest in vocabulary.
-
Three-quarters of the world's
mail, telexes and cables are in English.
-
The main language used throughout
the world on the internet is English.
-
More than half of the world's
technical and scientific periodicals are in English.
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English is the medium for 80% of
the information stored in the world's computers.
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No word in the English language
rhymes with month, orange, silver, and purple.
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"Ough" can be pronounced in eight
different ways. The following sentence contains them all: "A r
ough-coated, d ough-faced pl oughman strode through the
streets of Scarbor ough, c oughing and hicc oughing th
oughtfully.
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The last thing to happen is the
ultimate. The next-to-last is the penultimate, and the
second-to-last is the antepenultimate.
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The phrase " raining cats and
dogs" originated in 17th Century England. During heavy
downpours of rain, many of these poor animals unfortunately
drowned and their bodies would be seen floating in the rain
torrents that raced through the streets. The situation gave
the appearance that it had literally rained "cats and dogs"
and led to the current expression.
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The plastic things on the end of
shoelaces are called aglets.
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The ridges on the sides of coins
are called reeding or milling.
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The side of a hammer is a cheek.
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The study of insects is called
entomology.
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The study of word origins is
called etymology.
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The term " devil's advocate"
comes from the Roman Catholic Church. When deciding if someone
should be sainted, a devil's advocate is always appointed to
give an alternative view.
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The two lines that connect your
top lip to the bottom of your nose are known as the philtrum.
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The white part of your fingernail
is called the lunula.
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The word "assassination" was
invented by Shakespeare.
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The word "karate" means "empty
hand."
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The word 'news' did not come
about because it was the plural of 'new.' It came from the
first letters of the words North, East, West and South. This
was because information was being gathered from all different
directions.
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The ZIP in Zip-code stands for
"Zoning Improvement Plan."
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A bibliophile is a collector of
rare books. A bibliopole is a seller of rare books.
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The name of all the continents
end with the same letter that they start with.
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Malaria was so named because it
was associated with the vapours rising from swamps ("mala"
means bad and "aria" means air).
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The sentence "the quick brown fox
jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter in the English
language.
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Q is the only letter in the
alphabet that does not appear in the name of any of the states
of the USA.
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The word 'grammar' entered
medieval English as 'gramarye,' via Scotland. The Scots got it
from the French word, 'grimoire,' which meant a collection of
magic spells.
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In English, "four" is the only
digit that has the same number of letters as its value.
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English soldiers of the Hundred
Years War were known to the French as "Les Goddams" because of
the large number of swear words they used.
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The names of all the continents
end with the same letter that they start with.
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The only 15-letter word that can
be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.
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The word bread meaning "money"
comes from old Cockney rhyming slang "Give me your money. Give
me your bread and honey."
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The three words in the English
language with the letters "uu" are: vacuum, residuum and
continuum.
