ShareThis

Thursday, May 05, 2011

Common term know how's

Etymology of common words/terms we use. Interesting read!


[1]FORTNIGHT comes from 'Fourteen Nights' (Two Weeks).

[2]POP MUSIC is 'Popular Music' shortened.

[3]MOPED is the short term for 'Motorized Pedaling'.

[4]BUS is the short term for 'Omnibus' that means everybody.

[5]DRAWING ROOM was actually a 'withdrawing room' where people withdrew after Dinner. Later the prefix 'with' was dropped..

[6]NEWS refers to information from Four directions

N-orth, E-ast, W-est, and S-outh.

[7]AG-MARK, which some products bear, stems from 'Agricultural Marketing'.

[8]QUEUE comes from 'Queen's Quest'. Long back a long row of people as waiting to see the Queen. Someone made the comment Queen's Quest..

[9]JOURNAL is a diary that tells about 'Journey for a day' during each Day's business.

[10]TIPS come from 'To Insure Prompt Service'. In olden days to get Prompt service from servants in an inn, travelers used to drop coins in a box on which was written 'To Insure Prompt Service'. This gave rise to the custom of Tips.

[11]JEEP is a vehicle with unique gear system. It was invented during World War II (1939-1945). It was named 'General Purpose Vehicle (GP)'. Over time GP became JEEP.

[12]Coca-Cola was originally green.

[13]The most common name in the world is Mohammed..

[14]The name of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with - Asia, America, Australia, Europe

[15]The strongest muscle in the body is the TONGUE.

[16]TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.

[17]Women BLINK nearly twice as much as men!!

[18]You can't kill yourself by holding your breath.

[19]It is impossible to lick your elbow.

[20]Wearing HEADPHONES for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times!

[21]It is physically impossible for PIGS to look up into the sky.

[22]The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.

[23]Each KING in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history.

Spades- King David

Clubs- Alexander the Great,

Hearts- Charlemagne

Diamonds- Julius Caesar.

[24]What do bullet proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers all have in common?

Ans.- All were invented by women!

[25]A CROCODILE cannot stick its tongue out.

[26]A SNAIL can sleep for three years.

[27]All POLAR BEARS are left handed.

[28]BUTTERFLIES taste with their feet.

[29]ELEPHANTS are the only animals that can't jump.

[30]In the last 4000 years, no new ANIMALS have been domesticated.

[31]STEWARDESSES is the longest word typed with only the left hand.

[32]The human HEART creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.

[33]RATS multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over million descendants.

[34]People say "BLESS YOU" when you sneeze because when you sneeze, your heart stops for a millisecond.

[35]If you SNEEZE too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die. So good to bless the sneezing person


No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.