English Language History
English evolved from this language family
What is Germanic
This is the most commonly used letter in the English language
What is E
"French fries/fries" (American) are this in British English
What is "chips"
This word originally meant (13th century) "lighthearted", "joyous" or (14th century) "bright and showy", it also came to mean "happy"
What is "gay"
English is the ___ most spoken native language in the world
What is third
The ampersand (&) evolved from this phrase
What is "and per se and"
Although "I am" is usually considered the shortest grammatically correct sentence in English, this has been argued to be an even shorter grammatically correct sentence
What is "Go"
A flat (British) is this in American English
What is "apartment"
This negative word originally meant "inspiring awe, wonder (or fear)", hence "impressive"
What is "awful"
Roughly, what percentage of the world's population is fluent or competent in English?
What is 20%
The English language is conventionally divided into three historical periods: Old English, Middle English and Modern English. William Shakespeare wrote his plays during this period
What is Modern English (16th century - present)
This word in the English language has the most meanings
What is "set"
While spelling, in British English, they may end a word with -our, in American English, they may end the word like this
What is -or
The word "nice" used to mean this
What is “ignorant” or “foolish”
A pangram sentence is ___
What is a sentence that uses every letter of the alphabet at least once
While the law code of King Æthelberht of Kent is considered the earliest substantial example of English prose, _____ is considered the oldest example of English poems
What is Cædmon's Hymn
English is called the language of the sky because this
What is it is the international language of aviation.
All pilots must identify themselves in English during international flights. Likewise, all air traffic controllers at international airports must be able to communicate with the pilots in English
While an anonymous man is known as a John Doe in American English, in British English they are called this
What is John Smith
This word comes from an Old French word, literally meaning ‘with whom one eats bread’
What is companion (compaignon, based on Latin com- ‘with’ and panis ‘bread’)
More English words begin with this letter than with any other letter
What is S
The Y in "Ye" in old phrases and titles actually stands for this letter which used to make the TH sound in English due to the fact that the printing press used to use Y as a stand-in for it as it could not print it
What is thorn (þ)
The English language is estimated to have the most words in the world with around this many words (added up with both extant and obsolete)
What is 1 million
The phrase "shoot the breeze" (American) is this in British English
What is chinwag
If you had a ____ of things 600 years ago, it meant that you specifically had 10,000 of them
What is myriad
This the longest word published in the Oxford English Dictionary
What is "Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis"