Page 4 - Language Facts

'Backpfeifengesicht' is a German term for a face that badly needs a punch

I don't consider German to be the prettiest language. If you want pretty, learn Italian or Spanish. Both are extremely pleasing to the ear. You can say practically anything in these languages, and it sounds good. This is not the case with German, at least for me.

However, they do have some truly useful words. Words that we don’t have in English and that we may just need. One such word is “backpfeifengesicht.” How to pronounce it is a mystery, but the meaning is known. “Backpfeifengesicht” means “a face in need of a punch.” We’ve all seen such a face. We’ve all known such a person.

They are infuriating and while violence is never a good option, we’ve all experienced this urge. Some say the actual translation is “a face in need of a slap.” Either way, this word would be extremely useful to have in English. It would at the very least make stories shorter. Thanks, German.

(Source)

There’s a reason why people say ‘Um’ or ‘Ah’ in a conversation! What is it?

We’re all guilty of using the words ‘um’ or ‘ah’ while trying to figure out what we are going to say next, especially when we are nervous. Are you wondering why we make these unusual sounds while trying to think? Well, Dr. Stephen Juan believes he has the answer to this mystery. The reason that we say ‘Um’ or ‘Ah’ while we’re talking is because these sounds are what are referred to as ‘neutral vowel sounds’.

This means that these sounds are the easiest noises that we can make! They are so easy to make that we don’t even need to think about making them, which is why we say them while trying to think of something else to say! Want learn more about these weird words? Check out the source.

(Source)

Learn the origins of the racial slur ‘cracker’

It seems like everybody is so desperate to be politically correct; in fact, you can’t even say the word “Monday” without turning heads these days (see this previous post http://www.omg-facts.com/Language/Some-People-Have-Turned-Monday-Into-A-Ra/54909)! One of the original racial slurs was the word Cracker, often said by an African American referring to a Caucasian. Unfortunately, the slur has an ugly history.

It started back in the 18th century (or earlier) when slavery foremen in the South would use whips to discipline their slaves. Such use of the whip was called “cracking the whip,” another expression that has stuck around. The townspeople dubbed the foreman “Crackers” because of the frequency they used the whip on the slaves.

Today, the term is actually less offensive than it was back then, and some Caucasian people even refer to themselves as Crackers, meaning they have lived in the south for generations. In 2008, former president Bill Clinton even used the term on an episode of Larry King Live, describing the group of voters he was hoping would vote for Obama. The term “white Cracker,” however, is used less often these days but is most definitely a slur used to demean whites.

(Source)

A Buttload is an actual unit of measurement.

Please don't get us in trouble with your parents if they give you a hard time for this, but a buttload is a real unit of measurement that is used for reasons that aren't always juvenile. A butt is actually a traditional unit of volume that is used for wines and other alcoholic beverages.

A butt is defined to be 2 hogsheads, which in the US is 63 gallons. So now you know… a buttload is when you have a ton of booze and you don't want to count in hogsheads.

(Source)

There's a tiny country INSIDE the United States!

It's called the Republic of Molossia and it's a micronation founded humorously by a man named Kevin Baugh as a 'dictatorial banana-republic' in the 1.3 acre area around his house in Dayton Nevada. The micronation consists of Baugh's house, his back and front yards and some other properties that is all surrounded by the state of Nevada.

Molossia started as a childhood project in 1977 and became a 'hobby pushed to the nth degree.' It evolved into a territorial entity in the 1990s. Kevin Baugh even went so far as to create a petition on Whitehouse.gov's We the People requesting formal recognition of the micronation, but didn't gain much traction.

Baugh has embraced his micronation-ness and has installed art and landscape projects around his home that attract interest from outsiders. It's estimated that up to 10, yes TEN, diez tourists visit Molossia every year.

(Source)