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1. The word "Checkmate" in chess comes from the Persian phrase "Shah Mat," which means "the king is
dead".
2. The only city whose name can be spelled completely with vowels is Aiea, Hawaii.
3. Facetious and abstemious contain all the vowels in the correct order, as does arsenious, meaning
"containing arsenic."
4. "Polish" is the only word in the English language that when capitalized is changed from a noun or a verb
to a nationality.
5. "Corduroy" comes from the French, "cord du roi" or "cloth of the king."
6. The slash character is called a virgule, or solidus. A URL uses slash characters, not back slash
characters.
7. The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.
8. The verb "cleave" is the only English word with two synonyms which are antonyms of each other: adhere
and separate.
9. The combination "ough" can be pronounced in nine different ways. The following sentence contains
them all: "A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of
Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed."
10. The highest scoring word in the English language game of Scrabble is 'Quartzy'. This will score 164
points if played across a red triple-word square with the Z on a light blue double-letter square. It will
score 162 points if played across two pink double-word squares with the Q and the Y on those squares.
'Bezique' and 'Cazique' are next with a possible 161 points. All three words score an extra 50 points for
having seven letters and therefore emptying the letter rack in one go.
11. The English word with the most consonants in a row is latchstring.
12. The word "robot" was created by Karel Capek. It came from Czech/Slovak "robotovat," which means to
work very hard.
13. The only word that consists of two letters, each used three times is the word "deeded."
14. A hamlet is a village without a church and a town is not a city until it has a cathedral.
15. The stress in Hungarian words always falls on the first syllable.
16. The word "karate" means "empty hand."
17. The word "girl" appears only once in the Bible.
18. The abbrevation "PDX" (Portland International Airport) is derived from "P" standing for Portland and "DX"
meaning long distance or wide reaching.
19. The abbreviation "ORD" for Chicago's O'Hare airport comes from the old name "Orchard Field."
20. Switching letters is called spoonerism. For example, saying jag of Flapan, instead of flag of Japan.
21. A H I M O T U V W X Y are the symmetric capital letters in the Roman alphabet. i l o t u v w x are the
symmetric lower case letters in the Roman alphabet.
22. All Hebrew orignating names that end with the letters "el" have something to do with God. Source:
Joshua Allen
23. The 'v' in the name of a court case does not stand for 'versus', but for 'and' (in civil proceedings) or
'against' (in criminal proceedings).
24. The term, honeymoon, is derived from the Babylonians who declared mead, a honey-flavored wine, the
official wedding drink, stipulating that the bride's parents be required to keep the groom supplied with
the drink for the month following the wedding; that month became known as the honeymonth, hence
our honeymoon. Source: Bryan Giese
25. "Rhythm" and "syzygy" are the longest English words without vowels.
LANGUAGE TRIVIA
26. The national anthem of the Netherlands "Het Wilhelmus," is an 'acrostichon.' The first letters of each of
the fifteen verses represent the name "Willem Van Nassov" (old spelling.) Source: Albert Siersema
27. The two longest one-syllable words in the English language are "screeched" and "strengths." Source:
Michael Baraz
28. 'Strengths' is the longest word in the English language with just one vowel.
29. The longest place-name still in use is
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu, a
New Zealand hill.
30. The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. It is a a pneumoconiosis caused by the inhalation of
very fine silicate or quartz dust. The only other word with the same amount of letters is
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconioses, its plural.
31. The second longest word in the Oxford English Dictionary is "floccinaucinihilipilification," which means
"the act of estimating as worthless."
32. The third longest word in the English language is "antidisestablishmenterianism".
33. The longest muscle name is the "levator labiisuperioris alaeque nasi" and Elvis popularized it with his lip
motions.
34. 'Stewardesses' and 'reverberated' are the two longest words (12 letters each) that can be typed using on
the left hand.
35. The longest word that can be typed using on the right hand is 'lollipop'.
36. 'Skepticisms' is the longest word that can be typed using alternate hands.
37. One of the longest English words that can be typed using the top row of a typewriter (allowing multiple
uses of letters) is 'typewriter.'
38. One out of every eight letters used in written English is an e. Source: "2201 Fascinating Facts"
39. Alma mater means bountiful mother.
40. No words in the English language rhyme with orange, silver or purple.
41. The language Malayalam, spoken in parts of India, is the only language whose name is a palindrome.
42. The words 'sacrilegious' and 'religion' do not share the same etymological root.
43. The phrase "sleep tight" originated when mattresses were set upon ropes woven through the bed frame.
To remedy sagging ropes, one would use a bed key to tighten the rope.
44. No word in the English language rhymes with month.
45. "Evian" spelled backwards is naive.
46. The word denim comes from 'deNimes', or from Nimes, a place in France.
47. Dublin comes from the Irish Dubh Linn which means Blackpool.
48. Scottish is the language called Gaelic, whereas Irish is actually called Gaeilge.
49. "Freelance" comes from a knight whose lance was free for hire, i.e. not pledged to one master.
50. The term "Mayday" used for signaling for help after (SOS), it comes from the French term "M'aidez"
which is pronounced "MayDay" and means, "Help Me"
51. The term "devil's advocate"comes from the Roman Catholic church. When deciding if someone should
become a saint, a devil's advocate is always appointed to give an alternative view.
52. When two words are combined to form a single word (e.g., motor + hotel = motel, breakfast + lunch =
brunch) the new word is called a "portmanteau."
53. Avocado is derived from the Spanish word 'aguacate' which is derived from 'ahuacatl' meaning testicle.
54. AM and PM stand for "Ante-Meridian" and "Post-Meridian," respectively, and A.D. actually stands for
LANGUAGE TRIVIA