Top 7 weirdest facts about the English language

5/29/2019

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Science Story: Top 7 weirdest facts about the English language

English is an astonishing language which can surprise even those who speak it from birth. These 7 facts about our beloved language will prove it.

#1

Science Story: English is one of the hardest languages to learn because of its contronyms, such as FINE, GO, QUITE, LITERALLY — shutterstock

Contronyms are words that can have two opposite meanings.

FINE can mean excellent or just mediocre.

GO can mean to succeed or to fail

QUITE can mean rather or completely

LITERALLY can mean actually or virtually

#2

Science Story: Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. In English, this sentence makes sense! — shutterstock

The thing is that it employs three distinct meanings of the word buffalo:

1. A proper noun that refers to the name of a city (Buffalo, New York);
2. A verb to buffalo, which means "to bully, harass, or intimidate";
3. A noun that refers to an animal (plural is also buffalo);

So, we get the following meaning:

The buffalo from Buffalo who are buffaloed by buffalo from Buffalo, buffalo (verb) other buffalo from Buffalo.

#3

Science Story: There are about 171,000 words in English. 1,700 of them were invented by Shakespeare. — shutterstock

They include assassination, bedazzled, bandit, fashionable, lonely, and uncomfortable.

#4

Science Story: The abbreviation OMG was invented in 1917 by Winston Churchill. — shutterstock

OMG is more than a century old!

#5

Science Story: The orange color was named after oranges. Englishmen started calling it so only after encountering the fruit. — shutterstock

Before that, the color was called geoluread.

#6

Science Story: You can fit every English letter in one sentence: “The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog.” — shutterstock

Such a sentence is called a pangram. In English, there are other pangrams. They are often used to test fonts.

#7

Science Story: According to a public poll conducted in 2016, WHATEVER is the most annoying word in English.

Do you agree with the results of the poll? Which English word do you think is the most annoying? Do you know any other interesting facts about English? Tell us in the comments!

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What are your thoughts on this subject?

105 Comments

Robert W Macdonald

I think that "Like" is like the most annoying word.

Gail Cusack

IRS supposed to be "The quick brown fox jumps over THE lazy dog" have typed it a zillion times when learning to type in another lifetime!

Julie Allen

I hate the word color as spelled in #5 when in English it is spelled colour.

Norma Cullerton

"It is what it is" more than one word but I hate the phrase

Vimala Padmaraj

FOR ME "AWESOME" IS THE WORD THAT ANNOYS ME. IT IS USED FOR EVERYTHING FROM PASSING MOTION TO CLIMBING MOUNT EVEREST. USED ONLY BY YOUTH - ESPECIALLY GIRLS.

lmoores

Assassination is Arabic in origin not English.

Caroline Weis

Joanne M Medina, I know what you mean. It seems that a lot of people when talking to someone else throws in "you know" nearly every other word. It gets do annoying to hearthat because we dont know.

Peter Abrams

littledick, tHe quick.....

Peter Abrams

Lynne Mills, John, where Mary had had "had" had had " had had" " Had had" had met with the teacher's approval. That's ten in a row, but it takes two sentences. The past perfect tense of 'to have' is so often misused...usually by omission.