Page 33 - Language Facts

‘Jay’ used to be slang for ‘foolish person.’

In early 20th Century Midwest slang, a “jay” was a “rube”, meaning either an unintelligent person or someone who was inexperienced and naive. When a pedestrian ignored street signs, he was referred to as a ‘jaywalker.’ The idea behind this was that someone from the country who was unfamiliar with urban life (along with cars and traffic) didn’t understand how not to get in the way of traffic. So it used to be that calling someone a jaywalker was akin to calling them a hick or a country bumpkin.

When cars were still new, pedestrians had the right of way all the time on the streets; there were no jaywalking laws. Automobile enthusiasts hoped to change that by spreading the term “jaywalking” as a way to shame pedestrians who got in their way when they were driving.

Blonde is spelled two different ways.

Depending on the context, either “blond” or “blonde” can be the proper grammatical choice in a sentence. The rules for this are pretty simple. Because the word blond(e) is French in origin, it comes in two different ‘genders’: masculine and feminine. This rule holds true for English also, so when you are referring to a light-haired male you use blond, and when you mention a light-haired female you use blonde. The only other thing to remember is that there is only one spelling when the word is used as an adjective: blond.
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Over 40% of the people in Vietnam have the same last name: Nguyen.

Nguyen is such a common name that it’s also the 7th most common surname in Australia, after the British surnames of Smith, Jones, Williams, Brown, Wilson and Taylor. (Read more about the most common last names in Australia). 

Nguyen is also the 57th most common last name in the United States, as well as the most common Asian last name in the country. Check out this New York Times article to see how popular your last name is.

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The chorus to Cee-Lo Green’s “F*ck You” is a haiku!

A haiku is a short Japanese poem characterized by certain specific qualities. The English approximation of a haiku requires a 17-syllable structure separated into lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. For all intents and purposes, the chorus of Cee-Lo’s hit song fits into this Westernized definition, though it may not technically fit all of the Japanese criteria, including the comparison of two images and the use of a season word.

The big toe’s name is “hallux”.

It’s actually the Latin word for big toe. The thumb has a similar name, “pollex”. The Hallux is usually the biggest toe on the foot, but the condition in which the Hallux is shorter than the middle toe (“Morton’s toe”) is actually the dominant gene.
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