So, as an English Teacher I would expect myself to have a decent grasp of the English language, but I find myself wondering if English could become any more complicated day after day. How did we ever learn gerunds, infinitives, past participles and certain blends…It can be ridiculous sometimes. Sometimes I find it hard to explain some things to my students and so I go in search of the answers in any reference form I can. I compiled a list of some of my favorite “facts” about English (I should cite these, but am far too lazy for that-if you request references I will get them for you!):
No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.
The word "set" has more definitions than any other word in the English language.
"Underground" is the only word in the English language that begins and ends with the letters "und."
"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt".
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."
The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable. Microsoft word doesn’t recognize uncopyrightable as an actual word.
Bookkeeper is the only word in the English language with three double letters next to each other.
There are only four words in the English language which end in "dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: "abstemious" and "facetious."
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