Look, we all know the English language is freaking strange. Much like America, it is the bastard child of many languages. We flaunt the exceptions we have to every rule and our wanton use of the acute and grave accents. No, we haven’t managed to incorporate the umlaut or the tilde, but it’s coming people. You know it’s true.
I find language interesting. I find it interesting because it sleeps above its covers…four FEET above its covers. No, wait, that’s Sigourney Weaver in Ghostbusters. My mistake.
Anyway, found this text file online with a bunch of oddball…we’ll call them “quirks” of the English language along with other let’s say “fun” facts. Here’s a few:
The longest one-syllable word in the English language is “screeched.”
“Dreamt” is the only English word that ends in the letters “mt”.
The word “set” has more definitions than any other word in the English language.
“Underground” is the only word in the English language that begins and ends with the letters “und.”
There are only four words in the English language which end in”-dous” tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. The only other word with the same amount of letters is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconioses, its plural.
The longest place-name still in use is Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauot-
amateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwenuakitanatahu, a New Zealand hill.Los Angeles’s full name is “El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula” and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size, “L.A.”
A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.
There is a seven letter word in the English language that contains ten words without rearranging any of its letters, “therein” the, there, he, in, rein, her, here, ere, therein, herein.
Next time I visit New Zealand, remind me not to visit Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauot-
amateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwenuakitanatahu.