Facts in "Words" Category
#3337 - Words Fact     1  The phrase "a red letter day" dates back to 1704, when holy days were marked in red letters in church calendars. |
| #3338 - Words Fact 1 The phrase "guinea pig" originated when a tax was imposed on powder for wigs in England to help pay for the war with Napoleon. The list of those who had paid the guinea (one pound, one shilling) was posted on their parish church door. As they were the wealthy of the day, they became known as the guinea pigs. |
| #3339 - Words Fact 3 Mothers were originally named mama or mommy (in many languages) because they have mammary glands. |
| #3340 - Words Fact 1 The word "yo-yo" itself was a registered trademark of Duncan until 1965. |
| #3341 - Words Fact 1 In India and Iran, the part of the house reserved for women is called a "zenana." |
| #3342 - Words Fact 0 Pregnant goldfish are "twits." |
| #3343 - Words Fact 3 The word "alcatraz" is Spanish for "pelican". |
| #3344 - Words Fact 0 The alteration of the architectural appearance of a city by the construction of skyscrapers and high-rise buildings is known as "Manhattanization". The term refers to the New York borough Manhattan. |
| #3345 - Words Fact 2 The first college to use the word "campus" to describe its grounds was Princeton. "Campus" is Latin for "field." |
| #3346 - Words Fact 2 The English-language alphabet originally had only 24 letters. One missing letter was J, which was the last letter to be added to the alphabet. The other latecomer to the alphabet was U. |
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