Interesting Facts You Might Be Unaware

1. The longest one-syllable word in the English language is “screeched.”

2. “Dreamt” is the only English word that ends in the letters “mt”

3. Almonds are members of the peach family.

4. The symbol on the “pound” key (#) is called an octothorpe.

5. The dot over the letter ‘i’ is called a tittle.

6. Ingrown toenails are hereditary.

7. The word “set” has more definitions than any other word in the English language.

8. “Underground” is the only word in the English language that begins and ends with the letters “und.”

9. There are only four words in the English language which end in “-dous”: tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.

10. The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is pneumonoultramicros copicsilicovolca noconiosis.

11. An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain.

12. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.

13. Telly Savalas and Louis Armstrong died on their birthdays.

14. Donald Duck’s middle name is Fauntleroy.

15. The muzzle of a lion is like a fingerprint - no two lions have the same pattern of whiskers.

16. A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.

17. There is a seven-letter word in the English language that contains ten words without rearranging any of its letters, “therein”: the, there, he, in, rein, her, here, ere, therein, herein.

18. A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

19. It’s impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

20. ‘Stewardesses’ is the longest English word that is typed with only the left hand.

21. The combination “ough” can be pronounced in nine different ways; the following sentence contains them all: “A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed.”

22. The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.

23. Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards, and are on the Australian seal for that reason.

24. Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten.

25. The word “Checkmate” in chess comes from the Persian phrase “Shah Mat,” which means “the king is dead.”