The distress code 'Mayday' comes from the French for help me, M'Aide!
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A legend suggests that clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of their unwanted people without killing them used to burn their houses down - hence the expression "to get fired."
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The dot over the letter 'i' is called a tittle.
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Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch procejt at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosnt mttaer waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter b
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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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In England, in the 1880's, 'Pants' was considered a dirty word.
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A “butt” was a Medieval unit of measure for wine. Technically, a 'buttload' of wine is about 475 liters, or 126 gallons.
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The word 'News' is actually an acronym standing for the 4 cardinal compass points - North, East, West, and South!
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