Category Archives: Language

Mar 23 2017
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Language

Fact #1321: “Checkmate” comes from the Persian phrase “Shah Mat” meaning “The King is Dead”.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkmate#Etymology

Mar 08 2017
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Food, Language

Fact 1310: “Sushi” literally means “it’s sour”, which dates back to the method of preserving meat, typically seafood, through fermentation using rice and salt.

Source: http://www.thekitchn.com/what-exactly-is-sushi-103062

Feb 28 2017
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Language

Fact #1304: All astronauts have to learn how to speak Russian, and all cosmonauts have to learn how to speak English.

Source: http://www.universetoday.com/101302/want-to-be-an-astronaut-learn-how-to-speak-russian/

Feb 27 2017
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Language

Fact #1303: In Spanish, “esposas” means both “handcuffs” and “wives” and it is not a coincidence.

Source: http://www.ocweekly.com/news/why-is-the-word-in-spanish-for-wives-and-handcuffs-the-same-6433229

Feb 24 2017
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History, Language

Fact #1302: Billiards is called “Pool” because of horse race “poolrooms.” In the 1800s betting parlors were called poolrooms, “pool” referring to a collective bet. Billiard tables were installed in poolrooms for people to pass time between races. Eventually the phrase “shooting pool” meant playing billiards.

Source: http://www.thebilliardshop.com/history-of-pool-and-billiards

Feb 20 2017
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Entertainment, Language, Places

Fact #1298: Pikachu’s name comes from the onomatopoetic word “pikapika” which is the Japanese sound for electricity sparking, and “chuchu” which is the sound small mice make.

Source: http://www.giantbomb.com/pikachu/3005-145/

Feb 14 2017
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Language, People

Fact #1294: George Lucas got the word Jedi from Jidaigeki, which is a Japanese term for Samurai period Drama.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jidaigeki#Influence

Feb 13 2017
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Language, Places

Fact #1293: America is the only country to pronounce Z as Zee. The rest of the English speaking countries say Zed.

Source: http://mentalfloss.com/article/62639/why-it-zed-britain-and-zee-america

Feb 08 2017
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Language

Fact #1290: The word Oxymoron is a oxymoron in its self, Oxy meaning sharp and Moron meaning dull.

Source: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/oxymoron

Jan 24 2017
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Food, Language

Fact #1279: PEZ is an abbreviation for Pfefferminz, which is German for “Peppermint”.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pez#cite_note-about-1

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