Did you know….?
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That the King James Bible was originally responsible for the spread of English as we know it today?
This was a translation of the Christian Bible which began in 1604 and was completed by 1611, and it has contributed to many idioms that we commonly use today. Don’t believe us? Try looking up the origins to the idioms, “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”, and “salt of the earth”.
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That William Shakespeare actually invented half the words that he used in his plays?
Words such as “assassinate”, “impartial”, “worthless” and “noiseless” did not exist until Shakespeare combined or created them for the sake of making his plays sound more rhythmic.
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That William Caxton was responsible for the spread of English around the world?
Caxton was the first person to introduce the printing press into England, and the materials printed using his press ended up spreading around the world wherever there was an English outpost or settlement (which was practically everywhere!).
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That approximately 4000 new words are added to the dictionary every year?
On average, it is estimated that a new word is created every 98 minutes, and many of them are words that were practically unheard of a couple of years ago, such as “phablet” (a cross between a smartphone and a tablet), “selfie” (a self-portrait photo), “tweet” (a post on Twitter), and “vacay” (a vacation or holiday). Who knows what could be added next!
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That combinations of the English language and and other languages are widely used?
In many countries such as Japan, Singapore, China, Hungary and Cameroon, the English language has been absorbed into the everyday language used in the native country. This has led to the creation of new English-based sub-languages, such as “Japanglish”, “Singlish”, “Chinglish”, “Hunglish” and “Camgranglais” (Cameroonian-French-English) respectively.
Do you know any more fun facts about the world’s most popular language? Why don’t you share it with us and post it on our Facebook page? Who knows? Maybe we might learn something new too!