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(Unless otherwise noted, word facts refer to the English language) "Typewriter" is the longest word that may be typed using only the top row of keys "qwertyuiop" on a typewriter... or computer. "Stewardess" is the longest word that is typed using only the left hand. The only word in the English language with three consecutive sets of double letters is "Bookkeeping." "Strength" is the longest word with only one vowel. The word "alimony" comes from the Latin "alimonia" and means "nourishment." OF is the only English word where "F" is pronounced as "V" "Alpha" and "beta" are the first two letters of the Greek alphabet and so are the source for the English word "alphabet." "Oceania" is a word with five syllables using only seven letters. "Amen" in the Hebrew language really means "truly" although it has come to mean "so be it" or "so may it be." "Amen" is also the final word in the Bible. QUEUEING, a mathematical term, contains five consecutive vowels. RHYTHMS is the longest English word using none of the vowels a,e,i,o, or u. "Dreamt", of all our 600,000 words, is the only one to end in "mt" Honorificabilitudinitatibus is the longest English word consisting entirely of alternating vowels and consonants. "U" always follows the letter "Q" except in certain trademarks such as Qantas®. "QANTAS®" is the abbreviation for " Queensland And Northern Territories Air Service." "Y" is not normally considered a vowel. However, a very few words such as "fly" rely on it to provide the required vowel sound. The dot above the letter "i" is called a "tittle." There are no English words that rhyme with "orange", "purple", "silver" or "month." "Checkmate," meaning the end of a game of chess, comes from the Arabic sháh-mát, meaning "the king is dead." The word, Impeticos, is to be found only once anywhere in literature. It is spoken by the clown in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. A sign on the window of a bakery shop in Yreka, California reads the same forward or backward... "Yreka Bakery." World War I doughboys passing through England saw the words "T. Crapper---Chelsea" printed on toilet tanks and coined the slang word "crapper". Whether Thomas Crapper actually invented the flushable indoor toilet is suspect. Credit for the invention probably belongs to a Mr. Albert Giblin who was an employee of Mr. Crapper. Many years ago when people could not sign their names they would make an "X" and then kiss the paper as a symbol of their true intent. X's have since come to mean kisses. The Lone Ranger was called "Kemo sabe" by his noble Indian companion Tonto. In Apache this means "white shirt". The Lone Ranger's trusted friend was supposed to be a member of the Tonto Apache tribe. The phrase "It's a doozie" was first used to describe the Deusenberg automobile. A Googol is a 1 followed by 100 zeros. A Googolplex is 1 followed by a googol of zeros. Ferdinand Porsche of automobile fame actually designed the Volkswagen Beetle. Adolf Hitler commissioned the work. If you count the number of cricket chirps in fifteen seconds, then add thirty seven, you will have the temperature of the air in degrees Fahrenheit. The only popular show on TV that has no musical intro or background is 60 Minutes. "Lawrence of Arabia" had no female actors in speaking roles. During the War of 1812 the British set fire to the Presidential Mansion in D.C.. When white paint was used to cover the smoke damaged gray exterior, it was decided to paint the entire structure white. It has since been known as the "White House." Until 1969 the American Express card was purple. The intense metallic green pigment used on Lucky Strike® cigarette packages was needed for the defense effort during WW-II. Since then, Lucky Strikes® have been in a white package. There are 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 different configurations available when solving a Rubik's Cube® puzzle. The smallest denomination American silver coin was the "Three Cent Silver" minted during the period 1851-1873. The only two U.S. coins minted for normal distribution, that used Roman Numerals were the "Three Cent Silver" and the Barber or "V" nickels. "Half-dismes" were minted only in 1792. Approximately 250 of these rare coins were minted from silver bullion furnished by George Washington. The Liberty Seated coin design, created by Chief Engraver Christian Gobrecht, has appeared on more coin denominations (half dime, dime, twenty cents, quarter, half dollar and silver dollar) than any other motif. Prior to 1814, U.S. congressmen were paid $6 per day while Congress was in session. Unlike the U.S., England has no different degrees of murder. Major Henry Wirz was the only Civil War soldier executed for war crimes. He was commandant of Andersonville Prison in Georgia where 13,000 Union prisoners died, mostly of neglect. The length of the Biblical "cubit" was not fixed, varying in length from 18 to 22 inches. It was determined by the length of the forearm from the elbow to the tips of the fingers. The world's seas contain more than half of all animal groups. The United States has a sunken battleship that has never been decommissioned: The USS Arizona which is now a memorial to the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Julia Child was employed by the Office of Strategic Service (OSS) doing intelligence work in India during World War II. The Eighteenth (Prohibition) Amendment was never ratified by either Connecticut or Rhode Island. (1918) The British H.M.S. Argus was the first aircraft carrier. David McConnell originally sold volumes of Shakespeare door to door. He gave each customer a complimentary bottle of perfume which proved to be more in demand than his books. That was the beginning of Avon® products. Willard Scott of Today show fame was the first Ronald McDonald. In some TIME magazine advertising campaigns, it has been suggested that the letters T-I-M-E stand for "Today Information Means Everything." On the September 14, 2001 edition of TIME Magazine, the usual red border was colored black due to the Sept. 11 attacks. The plastic tubing used for all Hula Hoops® ever made would stretch around the Earth more than five times. In the first six months after it's introduction, Americans purchased 20 million Hula Hoops®. Johnson & Johnson sells over $30,000,000 worth of Band-Aids® each year. In 1943, James Wright accidentally mixed boric acid and silicone oil. He found the resultant synthetic rubber would stretch and bounce further than true rubber, even at extreme temperatures. It would also copy any newspaper print that it touched. He could see no practical value to his discovery and it was not until 1949 that the material was sold as the toy, Silly Putty®. The crew of Apollo 8 used Silly Putty® to secure tools in zero-gravity. Douglas Engelbart demonstrated his X-Y Position Indicator on a crude computer in 1968. In 1984 the Apple Macintosh® made the "mouse" an indispensable item to computer users. Unalaska is a town in Alaska The hummingbird is the only bird that can fly backward. A cow can walk upstairs but not downstairs. Kangaroos and Emus are on the Australian coat of arms. Strangely, these two animals cannot walk backwards. Milk from camels will not curdle. A vexillologist is an expert in the history of flags. One hundred eleven million, one hundred eleven thousand, one hundred eleven (111,111,111) multiplied by the same number gives a resultant of 12, 345, 678, 987, 654, 321. One hundred eleven million, one hundred eleven thousand, one hundred eleven (111,111,111) divided by 9 equals 123,456,789 Take any number, double it, add 10, divide by 2, and subtract your original number, The answer will always be 5. Any single digit number other than zero multiplied by 9 will result in a number whose digits added together will be 9. An example: 6X9=54 5+4=9 The character for infinity ∞ is called a lemniscate. "Uncopyrightable" has no repeated letters. It is the longest such word in the English language. None of our 50 states has the letter "Q" in their names. "Screeched" is the longest one-syllable word in the English language. Cockroaches will not eat cucumbers. Everything else is fair game! In respect to the length of their body, Cockroaches are the fastest moving land animal on earth! Ever see an elephant jump? They can't! We are all
familiar with group names of many animals. Apes: A
Shrewdness of apes
Last updated Friday, 01 February 2008
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