Random Interesting Facts

[MississippiBoy]

I was puttering around the Internet and found this list. Figured I'd share. Enjoy:
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1. The longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched."

2. "Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt"

3. Almonds are members of the peach family.

4. The symbol on the "pound" key (#) is called an octothorpe.

5. The dot over the letter 'i' is called a tittle.

6. Ingrown toenails are hereditary.

7. The word "set" has more definitions than any other word in the English language.

8. "Underground" is the only word in the English language that begins and ends with the letters "und."

9. There are only four words in the English language which end in "-dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.

10. The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.

11. The only other word with the same amount of letters is its plural: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosesl.

12. The longest place-name still in use is Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapiki maungahoronukup okaiwe-nuakit natahu, a New Zealand hill.

13. Los Angeles's full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reinade los Angeles de Porciuncula" and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size,L.A.

14. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

15. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.

16. Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a belly button. It was eliminated when he was sewn up after surgery.

17. Telly Savalas and Louis Armstrong died on their birthdays.

18. Donald Duck's middle name is Fauntleroy.

19. The muzzle of a lion is like a fingerprint - no two lions have the same pattern of whiskers.

21. A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.

23. There is a seven-letter word in the English language that contains ten words without rearranging any of its letters, "therein": the,there, he, in, rein, her, here, ere, therein, herein.

24. Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.

26. A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

27. It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

28. Cranberries are sorted for ripeness by bouncing them; a fully ripened cranberry can be dribbled like a basketball.

30. The letters KGB stand for Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti

31. 'Stewardesses' is the longest English word that is typed with only the left hand.

33. The combination "ough" can be pronounced in nine different ways; the following sentence contains them all: "A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed."

34. The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.

35. Facetious and abstemious contain all the vowels in the correct order, as does arsenious, meaning "containing arsenic."

36. Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards, and are on the Australian seal for that reason.

37. Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten.

38. The word "Checkmate" in chess comes from the Persian phrase "Shah Mat," which means "the king is dead."

39. The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days of yore when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.

[carolina-rig-01]

that is interesting...........useless for the most part but still interesting.

[bamabassman]

ROFLMAO, SSIPPIBOY, UMMM ARE YA BORED?HAHAHAHAHAHA, it's okay pal. i am too.

[sharpe012010]

very random, very interesting

[MississippiBoy]

Originally Posted by bamabassman

ROFLMAO, SSIPPIBOY, UMMM ARE YA BORED?HAHAHAHAHAHA, it's okay pal. i am too.

I was bored and so sleepy i could barely keep my eyes open...don't know why I didn't just haul my dumb self to bed

[weezymagic]

i think ive sneezed with my eyes open before. i want proof that its impossible. im that bored

[aikenyounggun]

interesting... the goldfish one is a lie they proved it on Mythbusters... but the lion one with the whickers i can believe because my dog has white wiskers on one side and black on the other.

[bcklash]

#1, #10, and #11 not true.

smiles is the longest word!!!

there's a mile between each S

[Bassboss]

Originally Posted by MississippiBoy

I was puttering around the Internet and found this list. Figured I'd share. Enjoy:
--------------------------------------------------------------
1. The longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched."

2. "Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt"

3. Almonds are members of the peach family.

4. The symbol on the "pound" key (#) is called an octothorpe.

5. The dot over the letter 'i' is called a tittle.

6. Ingrown toenails are hereditary.

7. The word "set" has more definitions than any other word in the English language.

8. "Underground" is the only word in the English language that begins and ends with the letters "und."

9. There are only four words in the English language which end in "-dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.

10. The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.

11. The only other word with the same amount of letters is its plural: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosesl.

12. The longest place-name still in use is Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapiki maungahoronukup okaiwe-nuakit natahu, a New Zealand hill.

13. Los Angeles's full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reinade los Angeles de Porciuncula" and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size,L.A.

14. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

15. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.

16. Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a belly button. It was eliminated when he was sewn up after surgery.

17. Telly Savalas and Louis Armstrong died on their birthdays.

18. Donald Duck's middle name is Fauntleroy.

19. The muzzle of a lion is like a fingerprint - no two lions have the same pattern of whiskers.

21. A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.

23. There is a seven-letter word in the English language that contains ten words without rearranging any of its letters, "therein": the,there, he, in, rein, her, here, ere, therein, herein.

24. Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.

26. A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

27. It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

28. Cranberries are sorted for ripeness by bouncing them; a fully ripened cranberry can be dribbled like a basketball.

30. The letters KGB stand for Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti

31. 'Stewardesses' is the longest English word that is typed with only the left hand.

33. The combination "ough" can be pronounced in nine different ways; the following sentence contains them all: "A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed."

34. The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.

35. Facetious and abstemious contain all the vowels in the correct order, as does arsenious, meaning "containing arsenic."

36. Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards, and are on the Australian seal for that reason.

37. Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten.

38. The word "Checkmate" in chess comes from the Persian phrase "Shah Mat," which means "the king is dead."

39. The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days of yore when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.

Cool! Very interesting indeed! I only found 1 flaw, it's number 8. Underneath!
It's kind of ironic that I was the the 8th answerer isn't it!

[Love of the Sport]

Originally Posted by Bassboss

Cool! Very interesting indeed! I only found 1 flaw, it's number 8. Underneath!
It's kind of ironic that I was the the 8th answerer isn't it!

Undulate's the one that popped into my head.

[MississippiBoy]

Ummm, neither one of those ENDS in -und. Thanks for playing, though.

[jcw1503]

Another interesting fact to add....

Did you ever wonder why the railroads are the width they are? Why are they not wider or smaller? The answer is because of two horses butts!!!

Here is why!!

When the US built there railroad system they copied Europe’s railroad system, because it already worked.... So why are they that size over there, its because when the Romans ran through the cities they drove their chariots and the wooden wheels would engrave lines in the roads...so they decided to just put the railroad tracks in to the already dug out lines.... but why were they still that wide apart...why did the Romans build the chariots' wheels that far apart.... they wanted to make them as small as possible for fighting but they had to make them just wide enough to accompany two horses butts....

[Love of the Sport]

Originally Posted by MississippiBoy

Ummm, neither one of those ENDS in -und. Thanks for playing, though.

Thats what I get for opening my mouth before my eyes are open.

[Bassboss]

Originally Posted by MississippiBoy

Ummm, neither one of those ENDS in -und. Thanks for playing, though.

Must have edited it after I posted it.

[MississippiBoy]

Yeah, that's what it was.

Except if you'll notice, whenever someone edits their post, it says "Last edited by............", and even has the date and time at the bottom of that post.