Do you think you know all
about the English language due to your high level of competence in the
language? Well, whether your answer is yes or no, I'm very sure you will learn
something novel in this post. Below are a few facts about the English language:
1. Do you know that the
English language has about 1.5 billion speakers in the world? Here is a
breakdown - the language has about 400 million native speakers; 400 million
people speak it as a second language, and about 600-700 million people
learn/speak it as a foreign language.
2. According to Oxford
dictionary editors, about 1000 - 2000 new words are added to the English
dictionary every year. That is why some updated dictionaries (especially online
dictionaries) now have words like "pepperish", "insultive",
"emoji", "selfie", "twerking" or
"disvirgin".
3. The longest word in
the English language consists of 45 letters, and it's
"pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis"
4. Did you know that the
original name for a "butterfly" was a "flutterby"?
5. The English language has
more words that begin with an "S" than any other letter.
6. Do you know "I,
you, who, mother, father, ashes and worm" are some of the oldest English
words?
7. The verb
"go" is the shortest sentence in the English language! Are you
surprised? Use the comment box to ask why.
8. In English, a single
word can form a meaningful sentence.
9. Currently, English has
only two words that end in "gry", and they are "hungry and
angry".
10. The letters
"ough" can be pronounced 7 different ways. Pronounce the letters
"ough" in the following words: rough, coughed, thought, through, borough/thorough, though drought.
11. English as a language
has different dialects (American English, British English, Nigerian
English, South African English etc), and there are many dialects even within
the same region. There are 24 different dialects in the U.S alone and about 56
in the British isle.
12. The most commonly
used word in English language is "I".
13. The word
"swims" will still be "swims" even when turned upside down.
14. New words are added
to the English dictionary every two hours.
15. The word
"girl" was used to refer to a child regardless of the gender.
16. The indefinite
article "a" is the shortest meaningful word in the English language.
It usually precedes a word that begins with a consonant sound.
How was the ride? A daily
visit to this blog will always keep you in good terms with the English language.
Therefore, you are expected to always do the needful – always visit!