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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The Danish word for condom is 'svangerskabsforebyggendemiddel'.
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The six official languages of the United Nations are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.
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The dot over the letter 'i' is called a tittle.
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The distress code 'Mayday' comes from the French for help me, M'Aide!
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The equivalents of the English saying "That's Greek to me" are "This appears to be Spanish" (German), "This is Chinese to me" (Dutch), "It's German to me" (Philippines), "It's Hebrew" (Finnish), "It's Chinese to me" (Hebrew), "Sounds like Mars language/These are chicken intestines" (China).
10
The word 'mortgage' comes from a French law term that means 'death pledge'.
14
The word 'set' has more definitions than any other word in the English language.
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