The Explore! Linguistics Facts and Figures page has wacky idioms, sweet games, and cool Linguistic facts with which to impress your compadres. The page was set up just to get people started. If you have other bits you would like to add, please mail us!

Ingratiating Bits o' Linguistic Trivia

• "Facetious" and "Abstemious" are the only two words in the English language that contain the vowels A, E, I, O, and U in their proper order.
  

• The words "CHOICE COD" read the same when held upside-down in front of a mirror.
  
  
• A "clue" originally meant a ball of thread. This is why one is said to "unravel the clues" of a mystery. (It also lends new meaning to the phrase, "Get a clue!")
  
  
• Was the ampersand (&) once a letter of the English alphabet?
  
  
• The words "naked" and "nude" are not the same. "Naked" implies a lack of protection, while "Nude" means unclothed.
  
  
• "E" is the most-frequently used letter in the English alphabet; one out of every eight letters used in English is an "E". "Q" is the least-used letter.
  
  
• The word "Queue" is the only word in the English language that is still pronounced the same way when the last four letters are removed.
  
  
• A RIDDLE: What is unusual about the sentence "Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz"?
  ANSWER:It is the shortest English sentence yet devised to include all the letters of the alphabet.
  
  
• The following is the name of an Indian chief who died in 1866 in Wisconsin:
  Chief Lepodotenachoselachogaleokraniole
  ipsanodrimupotrimmatosiphioparaonelito
  katakeclumnenokichleipkossuphophattope
  risteralektruonoptegkephalokigklopelsiol
  agoosiraioealetraganopteurogon.

This page was last updated on 04-Aug-99