There are books that are good and books that are bad. Then you have the delightfully atrocious English As She Is Spoke — a book that is so bad that it is […]
If a person from Scotland asks, “Has yer cat died?” he or she is showing concern — but not about your pet. The phrase is a peculiarly-Scottish way of pointing out that […]
You know, of course, that the vast majority of people are right-handed. Only about ten percent of your fellow humans have a natural predisposition toward the left. That makes them different, for […]
Here at Commonplace Fun Facts, we love words. We also love limericks. When we stumbled across The OEDILF, we thought someone had been taking a peek at our Christmas gift wish list.
If you have figured out how to derive the meaning of a sentence containing nothing other than eight uses of the word “buffalo,” then roll up your sleeves and tackle this beauty: […]
Many of our readers are students, preparing to return to school after Christmas break. They will undoubtedly encounter essay and research paper assignments with strict requirements concerning the number of words. For […]
What is the difference between a real word and a made-up word? OK, admittedly all words are made-up. We should probably ask what it takes to transform a newly manufactured word into […]
According to the Commonplace Fun Facts Legal Department, one of the first things they teach in law school is, “Never use one word where ten will suffice.” Actually, what they told us […]
We love words. We especially love strange words. Fortunately, the English language has a limitless supply of them to tantalize even the most discriminating lexophile.
Unquestionably, the English language is insane. It is so insane that there is even a poem dedicated to its insanity. We have devoted numerous articles on this site to English and its […]
Suppose a friend asks you for directions to the nearest coffee shop. Your friend knows how to get to the grocery store on the corner of Main Street and Oak Avenue. You […]
Want to hear about this great new dessert we’ve invented? It’s a chocolate snack cake covered in chocolate and filled with whipped cream. We call it a Dong Ding. The mascots for […]
In the vast majority of the world’s languages, the word for mother begins with the letter M. Here are a few examples: Afrikaans: Moeder, Ma Albanian: Mëmë Aragones: Mai Asturian: Ma Belarusan: Matka Bergamasco: […]
They are on the precipice of extinction. Without decisive action, all fifty of them will be gone, only to appear as footnotes in the textbooks of the future. Saving them is going […]
Certain rules of grammar are easy to articulate and uphold. Taking on “commandment” status, some elements of the English language get drilled into our heads at an early age: don’t split infinitives, […]
Commonplace Fun Facts 