Collection of Mind-blowing Facts
A 1992 Japanese TV show combined English lessons with gymnastic exercise programs. On the show, three gymnasts would perform synchronized exercises while chanting phrases like, “Hasta la vista, baby,” “Spare me my life!”, “I was robbed by two men!”, and “I have a bad case of diarrhea.”
Before 1762, there was no influential prescribed English grammar rules, but a desire within the middle class to teach their children to speak like the upperclass prompted Bishop Robert Lowth to publish the prescriptive grammar book which has been the foundation of current English grammar.
The “Pirate speak” from movies and books was an actual distinct dialect of English which was spoken until the 19th century in the west country. It became associated with pirates due to the strong seafaring tradition from the area.
There is a movement to create new gender neutral pronouns: ze, zir, zir, hir, hirs, and xe, xem, and xyr. The University of Tennessee is encouraging students to use gender-neutral pronouns to help students feel more welcome.
Mastering just 3,000 words in English will make you able to understand around 95% of common texts.
Many words used to be spelled phonetically (e.g. debt was ‘det’) until some scholars purposely added silent letters to make them look more like Greek or Latin words, sometimes erroneously.
There is a completely unique English dialect spoken only on Tangier Island, Virginia. It is said to be almost the same as when the island was settled in 1686 and can be unintelligible even to native English speakers.
There are up to 24 dialects of American English.
Most Southern U.S. English speakers make no phonic distinction between “pen” and “pin” and this is one of the most widely recognized features of Southern speech today.
There was an early 70’s #1 Italian song written entirely in English gibberish to mimic what English sounds like to a non-English speaker.