Things you thought you already knew

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 members of 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 its plural: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosesl.

12. The longest place-name still in use is Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwe-nuakit natahu, a New Zealand hill.

13. Los Angeles's full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reinade los Angeles 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.

21. A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.

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.

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.

30. The letters KGB stand for Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti

31. 'Stewardesses' is the longest English word that is typed with only the left hand.

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.

Recession Proof Your Job By Checking For Grammar Mistakes

Bad writing, full of grammar and spelling mistakes, sticks out like a sore thumb, There's no hiding, especially when your documents or emails are viewed in Word or Outlook which have a spelling and grammar checker which flags your grammar mistakes. 

In Fall 2008, the recession is upon us. You think businesses aren't looking where to cut employees to lower their business costs? Employers are looking for reasons to let people go, so if your writing isn't up to scratch, now's the time to brush up on your grammar and make your writing look professional. 

The first place to start is in email. With the emergence of instant messaging, we've become used to writing in a "shorthand" style on the computer. Words like "l8r", "cu", "cos" are very common in email but there's a time and place for them, and the business envorinment is definitely not one of them. 

While this style works with friends and family, you just don't know how upper managment will react. So get used to "longhand" typing now, as laborious as it may be. 

Next step is to tackle spelling and grammar checking in your documents. And let's just state the obvious right now. No wordprocessor has a good grammar checker, so you're going to have to go out and buy one. 

The good news is that there are a couple of strong grammar checkers on the market so you will be able to find a good solution to buy. 

Better still, download a trial version of one then persuade your boss that it would be a good investment for the two of you to have a powerful grammar checker. That way you can cut out grammar mistakes using the gammar checker and the company is paying for it, not you!

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Japan learns English from Obama speech textbook

TOKYO (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama's speeches are proving a best-seller in Japan -- as an aid to learning English.

An English-language textbook, "The Speeches of Barack Obama," has sold more than 400,000 copies in two months, a big hit in a country where few hit novels sell more than a million copies a year.

Japanese have a fervor for learning English and many bookstores have a corner dedicated to dozens of journals in the language, many of them now featuring the new U.S. leader's face.

"Speeches by presidents and presidential candidates are excellent as listening tools to learn English, because their contents are good and their words are easy to catch," said Yuzo Yamamoto of Asahi Press, which produced the best-selling text book.

"Obama's is especially so. His speeches are so moving, and he also uses words such as 'yes, we can,' 'change' and 'hope' that even Japanese people can memorize," he said.

Speeches by President George W. Bush and former nominee John Kerry's four years ago did not have the same appeal, however, and nor do those made by Japanese politicians, Yamamoto said.

"In Japan, we don't have politicians who have such a positive influence. That's why we have to turn to a foreign president for someone in whom to place our hopes."

The 95-page paperback features Obama's speeches in English from the 2004 Democratic National Convention and during the Democratic Party primaries, in which he defeated Hillary Clinton. They are accompanied by Japanese translations.

The 1,050 yen ($12) book, which includes a CD of the speeches, tops the bestseller list on bookseller Amazon's Japanese Website,www.amazon.co.jp/

"Readers have sent in postcards saying that when they heard the speeches, they were so moved and cried even though they don't understand English very well," Yamamoto said.

He said lawmakers from Japan's main opposition Democratic Party had bought the book to study Obama's speeches.

Following Obama's inauguration on Tuesday, Asahi Press plans to issue a sequel that includes his inaugural address, as well as President John F. Kennedy's 1961 inaugural speech. It will also feature a reading of President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg address of 1863.

(Editing by Michael Watson)

Sponsors belittle opposition, ready to defend 'English' bill

MANILA, Philippines - Belittling the opposition to the bill, sponsors of a proposed measure reinforcing English in schools are ready to defend it during plenary discussion at the House of Representatives.

Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas, one of the lead proponents of House Bill 5169, said he and his fellow sponsors "definitely welcome" the plan of critics to raise questions on the floor.

"We now live and compete in the fast-moving information technology (IT) age, and English is the language of technology. So we have to embrace English," Gullas said in an article on the House of Representatives website.

He said even India and Taiwan are promoting the use of English.

In the Philippines, he said tens of thousand of South Koreans visit the country us just to study English short courses.

"What do India, Taiwan and South Korea have in common? They all aspire to be global leaders in the IT revolution, and they realize that in order to achieve their ambitions, they need adequate English skills," he said.

Gullas said he and the other lead sponsors of the bill, including Luis Villafuerte (Camarines Sur), Crispin Remulla (Cavite), Raul Del Mar (Cebu), Del De Guzman (Marikina City) and Cynthia Villar (Las Pinas City), are "more than ready and willing" to defend the bill.

Earlier, Valenzuela City Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo vowed to oppose the impending approval of the proposed Act Strengthening and Enhancing the Use of English as the Medium of Instruction.

Gullas said 202 members or 85 percent of the 238-strong House have co-authored the bill.

"This ought to give everyone a sense as to how overwhelming and formidable the support for the bill is," he said.

He also maintained that the House committees on basic education and culture chaired by De Guzman, and on tertiary and technical education chaired by Villar, have thoroughly examined the bill and its potential positive outcome.

Even Education Secretary Jesli Lapus is totally supportive of the bill, he said.

"Just the same, we welcome a painstaking debate on the floor ... We must stress that this is not just about jobs in contact centers or in the business processing outsourcing industry. This is about arming our future labor force participants with the language skills necessary for them to compete aggressively in all gainful job markets here and abroad," he said.

The House committees chaired by De Guzman and Villar filed a joint report on December 14, strongly endorsing the bill for immediate plenary consideration and approval.

Besides Speaker Prospero Nograles (Davao City) and Majority Leader Arthur Defensor Sr. (Iloilo), the bill's key endorsers include former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr (Pangasinan); Edcel Lagman (Albay); Teodoro Locsin Jr. (Makati City); and Roilo Golez (Parañaque City).

Likewise backing the bill are Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora (San Juan); Joseph Santiago (Catanduanes), chairman of the information and communications technology committee; and Junie Cua (Quirino), chairman of the appropriations committee.

Under the bill:

* English, Filipino or the regional/native language may be used as the teaching language in all subjects from preschool to Grade 3;

* English shall be the teaching language in all academic subjects from Grades 4 to 6, and in all levels of high school;

* English and Filipino shall be taught as separate subjects in all levels of elementary and high school;

* The current language policy prescribed by the Commission on Higher Education shall be maintained in college; and

* English shall be promoted as the language of interaction in schools.

The bill also requires English as the language of assessment in all government examinations, and in all entrance tests in public schools as well as state universities and colleges.

Once enacted, the bill would supersede Department of Education (DepEd) Order No. 25, which proclaimed a "bilingual" teaching policy.

Under the bilingual policy adopted in 1974, the subjects of social studies, character education, values education, industrial arts, home economics, physical education were all taught using Filipino while other subjects were done in English.

Upon implementation of the bilingual policy, however, Gullas said the subjects that were supposed to be taught in English were actually done in "Taglish," or a blend of English and the local dialect.

"As a language is best learned through constant exposure and use, we have to prescribe again by law, and not simply by administrative fiat, the reinstatement of English as medium of instruction, except of course in Filipino taught as a subject," Gullas said.

A previous survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) indicated that while most Filipinos are convinced that English mastery leads to greater employment opportunities, many still lack proficiency in the language.

In the March 2008 survey by the SWS, only 76 percent of voting-age Filipinos said they could understand spoken English.

Of those polled, only 75 percent said they could read English; only 61 percent said they could write English; only 46 percent said they could speak English; and only 38 percent said they could think in English. - GMANews.TV