Random Language Facts

    41 facts tagged with Language Facts

    There are around 41,806 different spoken languages in the world today.
    100
    The word 'mortgage' comes from a French law term that means 'death pledge'.
    14
    Ioannis Ikonomou
    Ioannis Ikonomou
    The Chief Translator for the European Parliament can speak 32 different languages fluently.
    36
    The word "clitoris" comes from the Greek word meaning "side of a hill".
    51
    When Washoe, the first chimp to use sign language, was told that her caretaker's baby had died, she signed "CRY."
    20
    Before WWI, German Was the Second Most Widely Spoken Language in the United States
    Before it was repressed during World War I, German was the second most widely spoken language in the United States and many local governments, schools, and newspapers operated in German.
    11
    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 Danish word for condom is 'svangerskabsforebyggendemiddel'.
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