jargon scout

[Alexey I. Fuchs]

I can confirm the ingrown toenails.



On Wed, 6 Oct 1999, Bob Fitzke wrote:

> Thought the group might be interested in the following because of the language
> related items. I have no idea how many are true. Does anyone?
>
> Bob
>
> 1. The longest one-syllable word in the English language is
> > >  "screeched."
> > >
> > > 2. "Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt."
> > >
> > > 3. Almonds are from the peach family.
> > >
> > > 4. The symbol on the "pound" key (#) is called an octothorpe.
> > >
> > > 5. The dot over the letter 'i' is called a tittle.
> > >
> > > 6. Ingrown toenails are hereditary.
> > >
> > > 7. The word "set" has more definitions than any other word in the
> > >  English language.
> > >
> > > 8. "Underground" is the only word in the English language that begins
> > > and ends with the letters "und."
> > >
> > > 9. There are only four words in the English language which end in
> > >  "-dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
> > >
> > > 10. The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford
> > > English Dictionary, is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
> > >
> > > 11.The only other word with the same amount of letters is
> > > pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconioses, its  plural.
> > >
> > > 12. The longest place-name still in use is
> > > Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaung
> > > ahoronukupokaiwenuakitnatahu, a New Zealand hill.
> > >
> > > 13. Los Angeles's full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de
> > > losAngeles de Porciuncula"and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its  size,
> > > "L.A."
> > >
> > > 14. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
> > >
> > > 15. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
> > >
> > > 16. Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a belly button. It was eliminated when
> > > he was sewn up after surgery.
> > >
> > > 17. Telly Savalas and Louis Armstrong died on their birthdays.
> > >
> > > 18. Donald Duck's middle name is Fauntleroy.
> > >
> > > 19. The muzzle of a lion is like a fingerprint -no two lions have the
> > > same pattern of whiskers.
> > >
> > > 20. Steely Dan got their name from a sexual device depicted in the book
> > >  'The Naked Lunch'.
> > >
> > > 21. A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.
> > >
> > > 22. The Ramses brand condom is named after the great pharaoh Ramses II,
> > > who fathered over 160 children.
> > >
> > > 23. There is a seven-letter word in the English language that contains
> > > ten words without rearranging any of its letters, "therein": the
> > > there, he, in, rein, her, here, ere, therein, herein.
> > >
> > > 24. Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are
> > > registered blood donors.
> > >
> > > 25. John Larroquette of "Night Court" and "The John Larroquette Show",
> > > was the narrator of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
> > >
> > > 26. A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.
> > >
> > > 27. It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.
> > >
> > > 28. Cranberries are sorted for ripeness by bouncing them; a fully
> > > ripened cranberry can be dribbled like a basketball.
> > >
> > > 29. The male gypsy moth can "smell" the virgin female gypsy moth from
> > > 1.8 miles away. (But does he CALL? NO-O-O-O-O-O...)
> > >
> > > 30. The letters KGB stand for Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti.
> > >
> > > 31. 'Stewardesses' is the longest English word that is typed with only
> > > the left hand.
> > >
> > > 32. To "testify" was based on men in the Roman  court swearing to a
> > > statement made by swearing on their testicles.
> > >
> > > 33. The combination "ough" can be pronounced in nine different ways;
> > > the following sentence contains them all: "A rough-coated, dough-faced,
> > > thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after
> > > falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed."
> > >
> > > 34. The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a
> > > letter is uncopyrightable.
> > >
> > > 35.Facetious and abstemious contain all the vowels in the correct
> > > order, as does arsenious, meaning "containing arsenic."
> > >
> > > 36. Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards, and are on the Australian
> > > seal for that reason.
> > >
> > > 37. Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about
> > > ten.
> > >
> > > 38. The word "Checkmate" in chess comes from the Persian phrase "Shah
> > > Mat," which means "the king is dead."
> > >
> > > 39. The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days of
> > > yore when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on
> > > the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.
> > >
> > > 40. The first episode of "Joanie Loves Chachi" was the highest-rated
> > > American program in the history of Korean television. "Chachi" is
> > > Korean for "penis."
>