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todayilearned

Jul 18, 2020

TIL The percontation mark ⸮, sometimes called the 'irony mark', was a 16th-century suggestion for indicating a rhetorical question. Who knew⸮ Could we have messed this up any more⸮ etc.

language lists news

todayilearned

Jul 01, 2020

TIL that in the 80s, deaf Nicaraguan children with no prior sign language (or any true language) exposure were brought together to a deaf school, & started spontaneously making their own sign language, developing complexity & syntax. This gave linguists rare insight into the birth of human language.

evolution language nicaragua sign

todayilearned

Jun 24, 2020

TIL that the verb 'egg' (i.e. egged on, to incite into action) has been in the English language longer than the noun 'egg'.

egg egg on english english language etymology expression grammar language linguistics phrase origin usage word origin writing

todayilearned

May 28, 2020

TIL that Aramaic -the language spoken by the historical Jesus- is still being spoken as a mother tongue in a small village in Syria.

aramaic assad belief christianity current affairs documentary history islam jesus christ journeyman pictures language news origins religion syria world news

todayilearned

May 21, 2020

TIL the term "Hands Down" comes from the world of horse racing, where a jockey cruising to an easy victory would loosen the reigns and drop his hands, thus winning "Hands Down".

big questions language

todayilearned

May 20, 2020

TIL that the movie term "Blockbuster" was coined to describe the length lines of people waiting to see a movie. It was considered a "Blockbuster" if the line extended for multiple blocks.

language movies

todayilearned

May 14, 2020

TIL Eleven and Twelve do not follow the teen pattern because they come from Old English terms that mean "one left after ten" and "two left after ten," or "ain-lif" and "twa-lif," due to the fact that these numbers were used commonly, unlike the other teens, and therefore developed much earlier.

big questions language words

todayilearned

Apr 22, 2020

TIL of Sila Sutharat, a roadside vendor in Phetchaburi, Thailand, who for 20 years has used a grill made of 1,000 mirrors to focus sunlight to cook chicken and pork. A chicken cooks in about 12 minutes.

bangkokpost english grammar language learn learner learning music vdo music video news song student study terry fredrickson test vocabulary ข่าวบางกอกโพสต์ ข่าวภาษาอังกฤษ เรียนภาษา เรียนภาษาอังกฤษ

todayilearned

Apr 21, 2020

TIL American Sign Language and British Sign Language are not mutually intelligible. While English speakers can understand each other across the Anglosphere, deaf people from different English speaking countries are unable to understand each other.

language sign language types

todayilearned

Mar 27, 2020

TIL in Scrabble, The Word "OXYPHENBUTAZONE" is Theoretically the Highest Possible Scoring Word, Netting 1778 Points. It Has Never Been Played.

fun language lists news pop culture words

todayilearned

Mar 15, 2020

TIL that the German word Elefantenrennen (literally: Elephant Racing) describes the event of one truck overtaking another on the autobahn and thus slowing traffic in the process.

elefantenrennen german words language learn german quirky words word of the week

todayilearned

Mar 04, 2020

TIL After over 70 years of separation, people in North and South Korea speak in increasingly different ways. South Koreans have incorporated many English words and phrases into their language, while isolated North Korea has eliminated words with foreign origins and created homegrown substitutes.

conflict language north korea south korea

todayilearned

Mar 02, 2020

TIL Semantic Satiation - When you hear/say a word too many times that it temporarily loses its meaning and sounds like gibberish.

language linguistics

todayilearned

Nov 16, 2019

TIL the Korean word for “Swiss army knife” is “maekgaibeo kal” which literally means “McGyver knife”

facts korean language translation

todayilearned

Nov 07, 2019

TIL that the fruit, orange, was named before the color, which was commonly referred to as “yellow-red.” Hence why people with orange hair are called “redheads” and not “orangeheads.”

big questions etymology food history language linguistics origins top-story words

todayilearned

Oct 21, 2019

TIL The ampersand (&) was the 27th letter of the alphabet as a ligature of the letters 'e' and 't' to form the Latin word 'et' meaning 'and'. So the alphabet would go X,Y,Z and And. So to distinguish it from the rest, children started to say 'and per say and' which later evolved into 'ampersand'.

big questions language news

todayilearned

Oct 05, 2019

TIL that the word "guys" actually originated from Guy Fawkes' name, and was used earlier to refer to men of the lowest and depraved kind.

language

todayilearned

Sep 23, 2019

TIL About the Kogi people who are thought to be last surviving pre-Colombian culture past the Aztecs. Their high priests are chosen at birth and spend their first 9 years of life secluded in a cave in total darkness learning the ways of “Aluna”(Mother Earth). The cave is said to represent her womb

ethnic joshua project kogi in colombia | language languages missions people group people groups unreached

todayilearned

Sep 14, 2019

TIL that pounds are abbreviated to "lbs" because it is derived from the ancient Roman unit of measure "libra pondo", meaning "a pound by weight". "Pounds" came from the "pondo" part while "lbs" is an abbreviation of the "libra" part.

big questions language origins

todayilearned

Sep 11, 2019

TIL that the story of Jack and the Beanstalk is believed to be over 5,000 years old. Rumpelstiltskin and Beauty and the Beast are thought to be around 4,000 years old.

anthropology books culture fairytales language science spoken word uk news world news written language

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