The English
language is as fascinating as it is popular and obviously has its own history
and quirks. Instead of only focusing on grammar and other theoretical aspects,
don’t forget to enjoy its more entertaining side. To help you with this task,
we have compiled a list of thirty fun and interesting facts about the English
language. Continue reading to learn them and get ready to impress your friends
with your newly gained knowledge.
Let’s get to the fun facts about English
language!
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 world’s population
speaks at least some English.
10. The US doesn’t have an official
language.
11. It is the only major language that
doesn’t have any organization guiding it – as opposed to the French Académie
française, the Spanish Real Academia Española and the German Rat für 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.
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. The word ‘lol’ was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2011.
23. What is known as British accent
came to use in and around London around the time of the American Revolution.
24.
Shakespeare invented many words, such as birthplace, blushing, undress, torture and many more which you will find here!
25. The word ‘Goodbye’ originally comes from an Old English phrase meaning ‘god be with you’.
26. Etymologically, Great Britain
means ‘great land of the tattooed’.
27. 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’.
28. 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’
29. The first English dictionary was
written in 1755.
30. The oldest English word that is
still in use is ‘town’.
