Twenty words we have absorbed from other counties
Posted 16 October 2024 in The Wonders of English.
- dollar (Germany)
- tomato (Mexico)
- zombie (West Africa via the Caribbean)
- tsunami (Japan)
- bungalow (India)
- café (French)
- boomerang (Australia)
- algebra (Arabic)
- macho (Spanish)
- hug and snug (Scandinavian)
- ketchup (Cantonese)
- balaclava (Russian)
- truck (United States)
- clock (Ireland)
- blackmail (Scotland)
- novel (Italy)
- assassin (Persian)
- turquoise (Turkic)
- berserk (Viking/Old Norse)
- physics (Greek)
English speakers worldwide
Posted 16 October 2024 in The Wonders of English.
There are 1,500 million English speakers worldwide. The next largest groups are Chinese (1,100 million), Hindi (650 million) and Spanish (420 million). In many other countries, although English many not be an official language, it is a common second language.
The top three languages on the internet are English (537 million), Chinese (445 million) and Spanish (153 million).
Credit: Wtmitchell – Previous version (August 16, 2007).
Shakespeare
Posted 16 October 2024 in The Wonders of English.
A few Shakespearian insults you might want to try out!
- fellow of infinite tongue
- half-face
- half-penny purse of wit
- instrument of darkness
- a most devout coward
- taffeta punk
- cream-faced loon
- man of wax
- whining mammet (doll or puppet)
“Shakespeare is studied in school by over 50% of the world’s population. No other creative figure from history is studied by more than 1% or 2%. He is the UK’s greatest ambassador abroad and one of the country’s most important soft power assets.”
Twenty often misspelled words in English
Posted 16 October 2024 in The Wonders of English.
- accommodate
- believe
- committed
- definite
- embarrass
- foreign
- gauge
- harass
- independent
- judgment
- kernel (colonel)
- library
- manoeuvre
- noticeable
- occasionally
- publicly
- questionnaire
- receive
- separate
- their/they’re/there