10 Interesting Facts About the English Language that You Didnt Know

Compared to other languages, English may seem simple, but that is probably because most people dont realize
it is full of crazy inventions, misinterpretations, mistakes, strange words, and needless words!
Did you know that enneacontakaienneagon is actually a word in the English language? (And you thought
pronouncing supercalifragilisticexpialidocious was difficult?). In fact, the meaning of the word is just as bizarre
as the word itself: its a shape with ninety-nine sides.
1.I am is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.
2.A pangram sentence is one that contains every letter in the language.For example, the sentence The
quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog is a pangram.
3.Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (*breath*) is NOT the longest word in English. This extra long
word (that approximately means fantastic) was popularized by the movie Mary Poppins and was eventually
added to the dictionary. What you probably didnt know is that there is a word that is longeryes longerthan
this one. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is a type of lung disease caused by inhaling ash and
dust. Go ahead and try pronouncing that!
4There are ghost words that mean nothing.
Believe it or not, there are some words that appeared in the dictionary because of printing errors. The
nonexistent word dord appeared in the dictionary for eight years in the mid-20th century. It became known as
a ghost word.
5The shortest, oldest, and most commonly used word is I.
It is also the most commonly used word in English conversations.
6A new word is added to the dictionary every two hours.
Between now and your next meal, a new word will be put into the dictionary. During the course of the year,
almost 4,000 new words are added!
7Theres a name for words that we repeat often.
Words we always use even though they add no meaning or value to a sentence are called crutch words. For
example, in the sentence Then I was like, OMG, then like, he went there, and like it is pretty obvious that
like is the crutch word. Actually, honestly, and basically are also commonly used as crutch words.
8Swims will be swims even when turned upside down. Such words are called ambigrams.
9English is the language of the air.This means that all pilots have to identify themselves and speak in
English while flying, regardless of their origin.
10Girl used to mean small boy or girl.
The word girl was not initially used to refer to a specific gender. It used to mean child or young person
regardless of the gender.

1. English actually originates from what is now called north west Germany and the Netherlands.
2. The phrase long time no see is believed to be a literal translation of a Native American or Chinese
phrase as it is not grammatically correct.
3. Go! is the shortest grammatically correct sentence in English.
4. The original name for butterfly was flutterby.
5. About 4,000 words are added to the dictionary each year.
6. The two most common words in English are I and you.
7. 11% of the entire English language is just the letter E.
8. The English language is said to be one of the happiest languages in the world - oh, and the word happy
is used 3 times more often than the word sad!
9. 1/4 of the worlds population speaks at least some English.
10. The US doesnt have an official language.
11. It is the only major language that doesnt have any organization guiding it - as opposed to the French
Acadmie franaise, the Spanish Real Academia Espaola and the German Rat fr deutsche Rechtschreibung.
These organizations are responsible for controlling the evolution of their respective language in terms of usage,
vocabulary, and grammar.
12. The most common adjective used in English is good.
13. The most commonly used noun is time.
14. The word set has the highest number of definitions.
15. Month, orange, silver, and purple do not rhyme with any other word.
16. The English language contains a lot of contronyms - words that can have contradictory meanings
depending on context. Consult: To offer advice, or to obtain it . Continue: To keep doing an action, or to suspend an action
Custom: A common practice, or a special treatment
17. Over 80% of the information stored on computers worldwide is in English.
18. Words that are used to fill in time when speaking, such as like or basically, are called crutch words
(and should best be avoided!)
19. English is the official language of 67 countries.
20. 90% of English text consists of just 1000 words.
21. There are 24 different dialects of English in the US.
22. What is known as British accent came to use in and around London around the time of the American
Revolution.
23. Shakespeare invented many words, such as birthplace, blushing, undress, torture and many more .
24. The word Goodbye originally comes from an Old English phrase meaning god be with you.
25. Etymologically, Great Britain means great land of the tattooed.
26. There are seven ways to spell the sound ee in English. This sentence contains all of them: He believed
Caesar could see people seizing the seas.
27. Many English words have changed their meaning over time - for example, awful used to mean
inspiring wonder and was a short version of full of awe, whereas nice used to mean silly
28. The first English dictionary was written in 1755.
29. The oldest English word that is still in use is town.