The phrase 'rule of thumb' is derived from and old English law which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.
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Pinocchio is Italian for "pine eye"!
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Beelzebub is Hebrew for 'Lord of the Flies'.
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China has more English speakers than the United States.
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The word 'mortgage' comes from a French law term that means 'death pledge'.
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The word 'mile' is derived from the Latin word for 1,000 - the number of paces it took the average Roman!
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Shakespeare's works contain first-ever recordings of 2,035 English words, including critical, frugal, excellent, barefaced, assassination, and countless.
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