Language - Fanciful Facts

Average Americans know about 10,000 words. Writers know the most words, averaging 20,000. Farm workers seem to know the fewest words, at around 1,600. Bibliography -69

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The word "set" has over 100 meanings or uses. 

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According to the Guiness Book of World Records, there are as many as 2,241 synonyms for the state of being "drunk." 

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A fellow in Montana gave his daughter a 622-letter long name. His purpose: To tangle up and crash beaurocratic computers! 

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In 1984 Alan Foreman of England sent his wife Janet a rather long letter containing over one million words. 

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When modern kids say "bad!" their actual meaning is "good!" Some of us wince at this slang reversal. This is not the first such reversal in the English language, however. "Awful" used to mean awe-inspiring, and "artificial" used to mean full of art. 

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In Spanish and German, they capitalize the word "you." In English, we capitalize "I." 

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Here's an interesting example in the evolution of the English language. Butterflies used to be called "flutterbys." 

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Who first said, "Don't count your chickens before they are hatched?" It was Aesop, of Aesop's Fables. 

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A voice heard over a telephone does not sound live. It sounds false or "phony." 

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In France a computer is called l'informatique, and in Sweden a computer is a dator (because it handles data). 

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Hemidemisemiquaver is a funny word. It is a musical term meaning a 64th note. 

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Chauffeurs date to the days of coal-fired, steam-driven cars. In fact, "chauffeur" is French for "stoker."