*DOUBLED FACTS* The Book of Random Facts

Part 9 - Languages

#1 - 1 billion people speak English. That's 1 in every 7 on earth.

#2 - 80% of information stored on all computers in the world is in English.

#3 - English words "I", "we", "two" and "three" are among the oldest, from thousands of years ago.

#4 - The longest common English word without vowels is "rhythms".

#5 - A new word in English is created every 98 minutes.

#6 - 89% of people in Sweden speak English.

#7 - The word "bride" comes from an old proto-germanic word meaning "to cook".

#8 - The word "queue" is pronounced the same way when the last 4 letters are removed.

#9 - The word "mortgage" comes from a French word that means "death contract".

#10 - The concept behind the word "cool" might come from the African word "itutu", brought to America by slavery.

#11 - 90% of everything written in English uses just 1,000 words.

#12 - "Time" is the most commonly used noun in English.

#13 - There are more English words beginning with the letter "s" than with any other letter.

#14 - Nigeria has more English speakers than the United Kingdom.

#15 - Screeched is the longest English word with one syllable.

#16 - There are 24 different dialects of English in the US.

#17 - Until the 19th century, the English word for actors was "hypocrites."

#18 - The shortest complete sentence in the English language is "Go".

#19 - Phrases in English such as "long time no see", "no go", and "no can do" come from literal translations of Chinese phrases.

#20 - "LOL" was formally recognized in 2011's update of the Oxford English Dictionary.

#21 - "Ironic" is the most commonly misused word in English says Dictionary.com.

#22 - The day after tomorrow is called "Overmorrow."

#23 - Today's British accent first appeared among London's upper class around the time of the American Revolution. Before that, the British accent was similar to that of Americans.

#24 - 80% of all written paragraphs in English feature the word "the."

#25 - Bald Eagles are so named because "balde" is an Old English word meaning "white."

#26 - Harry Potter books were translated from British to American English.

#27 - The verb "unfriend" dates back to 1659. It existed even earlier as a noun, as far back as 1275.

#28 - Understanding English actually hurts professional players of English scrabble. Some of the world's best Scrabble players are Thai and can't speak English.

#29 - The words 'idiot,' 'imbecile,' and 'moron' were originally medical categories for intellectual disability.

#30 - Dr. Seuss was the first to publish the word "nerd."