What are some mind-blowing facts about the English language?

Here are a few mind-blowing facts about the English language: 1. English is a Germanic language, but it has been heavily influenced by Latin, French, and other languages. This is why it has such a diverse vocabulary. 2. English is the most widely spoken language in the world, followed by Mandarin Chinese. It is the official language in over 70 countries and is spoken as a second language by an additional 1 billion people. 3. The longest word in the English language is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoco niosis. It is a technical term used to describe a lung disease caused by inhaling very fine silica dust. 4. The shortest words in the English language are "a" and "I", which are both articles. 5. English is the only language in which the word for the language itself is a homophone of the word for the people who speak it. The word "English" refers both to the language and the people. read less

About 4,000 words are added to the dictionary each year. The two most common words in English are I and you. 11% of the entire English language is just the letter E. The English language is said to be one of the happiest languages in the world – oh, and the word “happy” is used 3 times more often than the word “sad”! read less