X-Nico

100 unusual facts about English language


1062 ABC Riverland

Later the same year The Voice of Greece with Jim Grifsas became the first non-English-speaking program on the station.

2006 State of the Union Address

Newly elected Governor of Virginia Tim Kaine gave the Democratic response in English and Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa did so in Spanish.

938LIVE

938LIVE (formerly known as NewsRadio 938 before 2005) is an English radio station of MediaCorp in Singapore.

Adler Volmar

Not yet fluent in English, he misunderstood and thought that he was obligated to serve in the military.

Ahmed Mohamed Iman

His books included Toosiye Everyday English for Everyone (an English Grammar translated into Somali), Marine Ecosystem Data Gathered of Somalia and Taariikhda Taxan iyo Dhaqanka Soomaaliya (a book about the history and culture of Somalia).

Albatros C.II

The unusual tail structure used an open frame structure with a conventional fin and rudder and gave rise to the nickname Gitterschwanz (en: lattice tail).

Alvand

Alvand is newer form of *Harvant, (from Indo-European > Indo-Iranian root of *har), means "high", and vanta (akin to German "bund" and English bond, Persian and Kurdish "band," meaning "connected to" or "that of," "bound to" etc.

Amit Offir

On 2013 Amit's books were translated to other languages such as English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and many more.

Amor Artificial

Amor Artificial (English: Artificial Love) is the 6th studio album made by Costa Rican rock band, "Evolución".

Amphibola crenata

Amphibola crenata (titiko in the Māori language or mud-flat snail in English) is a species of air breathing snail with an operculum, a pulmonate gastropod mollusc which lives in a habitat that is intermediate between the land and the sea, not entirely terrestrial and not entirely marine.

Anton Vassil

As a director fluent in French, English and German, he is often associated with international projects requiring multiligual skills and international co-productions.

Ardboe O'Donovan Rossa GAC

Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Ard Bó Uí Dhonnabhain Rossa (Ardboe O'Donovan Rossa in English) is a club based in east County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, close to the shores of Lough Neagh.

Asher Arieli

Several of Reb Asher's students, such as Rav Eli Reznick,R Moshe Ahron Friedman,Rav Eitan Jaffan, and Rav Yosef Elefant, themselves also give lectures in Yeshivas Mir for English-speaking audiences, mainly in the Beis Yeshaya building of Mir.

Benjamin Blackledge

He was the first teacher of English language in Closter, New Jersey, and rose to become "the most prominent man in the northern part of Bergen County".

Campeonato Carioca de Futebol Feminino

The Campeonato Carioca de Futebol Feminino (Carioca Women's Football Championship, in English), organized by the Rio de Janeiro State Football Federation (FFERJ) is the women's football state championship of Rio de Janeiro State, and is contested since 1983.

Castellum

The Latin word castellum is a diminutive of castra ("military camp"), which in turn is the plural of castrum ("watchpost"); it is the source of the English word "castle".

CBPD-FM

CBPD-FM is a Weatheradio Canada station which broadcasts weather information and alerts on a frequency of 103.7 FM in Port Hardy, British Columbia, Canada, in both English and French.

CBPT-FM

CBPT-FM is a Weatheradio Canada station which broadcasts weather information and alerts on a frequency of 99.3 FM in Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Canada, in both English and French.

Cifal

Cifal (meaning the biggest, most senior head, chief or director in Volapük; itself coming from English ˝chief˝) is the leader of the Volapük movement.

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

Western Isles Council was retracted in 1997 under the Local Government (Gaelic Names) (Scotland) Act 1997, meaning that the former Western Isles are now officially named Na h-Eileanan Siar, even in English language contexts.

Coupe des Mousquetaires

La Coupe des Mousquetaires (English: The Musketeers' Trophy) is the trophy awarded to the winner of the Men's Singles competition at the French Open.

Cultural depictions of Anne Frank

The book The Freedom Writers Diary (and its 2007 film adaptation) biographs the lives of high school students whose English teacher encourages them to read The Diary of Anne Frank.

Czesław Piątas

He is interested in military history and tennis; speaks fluently Polish, Russian and English.

Eala Frya Fresena

According to 16th century sources, it was spoken at the Upstalsboom in Aurich where Frisian judges meet on Pentecost and it is traditionally answered with Lever dood as Slaav, or in English, rather dead than slaves.

Elisabeth Eybers

Her poetry was mainly in Afrikaans, although she has translated some of her own work (and those of others) into English.

Frank A. Perret

Frank A. Perret became involved in the development of the theory of EMF (s:.Counter-electromotive force, CEMF).

French Road Cycling Cup

The French Road Cycling Cup (English for Coupe de France de cyclisme sur route) is a road bicycle racing competition under the Fédération Francaise de Cyclisme (French Cycling Federation) each year since 1992.

Furby

They are programmed, however, to speak less and less Furbish and more and more English as they "grow".

Gaultheria shallon

In English, it is known as salal, shallon, or simply Gaultheria in Britain.

Grasellenbach

The Ellen part of the name most likely comes from the word Elm, which had the same meaning in German as it still has in English (although the current German word is Ulme).

Gregory Mair

She came to Jamaica to study English and married his father, founder and owner of the Desmond G. Mair insurance brokerage.

Hagai Shaham

By shear luck the manuscripts have been saved from disposal and arrived in the Hebrew University (see more in the CD's elaborated notes, in English, Hebrew, and Yiddish).

Hampstead, Quebec

In terms of mother tongue, the 2006 census found that, including multiple responses, almost 63% of residents spoke English, and about 16% of residents spoke French.

Harumi Kurihara

Harumi's first major cookbook published in English was Harumi's Japanese Cooking, which in 2004 was awarded the best cookbook of the year (and the best world Asian cuisine book) at the 10th Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, and was selected from a pool of 5000 cookbooks from 67 countries.

Heckler v. Campbell

Ms. Campbell had been born in Panama, and though she had limited ability to speak and write English, she could read and understand English fairly well.

Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron

The aircrew will then attempt to convince the boat crew to stop through the use of sirens, loud speakers, visual hand signals, and radio communications in both English and Spanish.

Hilmar Grétarsson

Hilmar Grétarsson (born March 8, 1982) is an Icelandic newspaper publisher best known for founding the Reykjavík-based, English language Reykjavik Grapevine with Jón Trausti Sigurðarson and Valur Gunnarsson.

Hmong American

Even though most Hmong families speak a language other than English at home, many Hmong Americans are rapidly blending into mainstream American society.

Ittefaq Group

The Ittefaq Group of Industries, (English The Unity), is a multimillion dollar integrated steel producer with major operations in Punjab Province of Pakistan.

John J. McClellan

In the 1985 English edition of the LDS hymnal, the music for "Sweet Is the Work" (hymn #147) was composed by McClellan.

John Rumbiak

Born in Biak he began English studies at Cenderawasih University (Abepura) in 1982 and worked as a coordinator and field researcher at the Rural Community Development Foundation (YPMD) in Abepura.

His good English and excellent presentation skills then facilitated his role as Elsham's chairman of International Affairs travelling widely attending many international conferences informing the international community about West Papua.

Joop Ave

Former Director General of Tourism (1982), fluent in three foreign languages namely English, French, and German.

Jorge José Emiliano dos Santos

His nickname was Margarida (meaning Daisy, in English).

Jozi FM

In 1999–2000, Soweto Community Radio and Buwa Radio merged to form Jozi FM, to form the largest community radio station in South Africa, broadcasting in several languages including: isiZulu, isiXhosa, English, Sesotho, Sepedi, Setswana and Xhintsonga.

Juvelen

Jonas Pettersson better known as Juvelen (English: The Jewel), born July 15, 1976, is an electro-pop singer from Stockholm, Sweden.

Kantheesangal

Kantheesangal or Qadishangal are the two of the many common Malayalam (and its English) renderings of a Syriac term meaning 'the holy ones'.

Kate Asabuki

Asabuki studied French and English in college, and joined Nikkatsu to work in their Roman Porno films in 1982, while still attending university.

Kim Hammer

He supported legislation that allows only English as the language available for driver's license tests.

King's English

Received Pronunciation, a form of English language pronunciation sometimes known as the Queen's English or the King's English

Kühlung

In the Kühlung, some of the sites referred to as a "Berg" (Eng.: hill or mountain) are merely promontories, while some of its summits are unnamed.

La Jalousie

The title of its English editions is Jealousy, but this fails to capture the ambiguity of the French title: "la jalousie" can be translated as "jealousy", but also as "the jalousie window".

Liberature

In the works where Nowakowski provides the reader with three versions of the text – Polish, English and Esperanto – one could observe certain differences in the rendition of the same topic, the technique which contributes to the further differentiation of the book’s meaning.

Lima Azimi

At the time of the 2003 World Athletics Championships, Azimi was a student of English language and literature at Kabul University.

Louis George Alexander

A British author of EFL course books, Louis Alexander was born in London and educated at Godalming Grammar School and the University of London, he taught English in Germany (1954–56) and Greece (1956–65) where he was head of English at the Protypon Lykeion, Athens (what is now the Scholi Moraïti).

Luigi Facelli

Despite the different walks of life, Lord Burghley considered Facelli a friend for years and invalidates, so that during the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, invited him to the opening ceremony, but when Facelli received the letter, he did not know the English language, if had it translated by a friend who brought back the greeting but simply was not able to translate even the invitation.

Malietoa Talavou Tonumaipe’a

Talavou was a keen student and statesman who was highly respected by resident Europeans on account of his dignified and friendly demeanor, not to mention his impressive command of both the English and Samoan languages.

Mark Perakh

His website also has a section on Russian oral jokes (anekdoty) and short stories he has written in English and Russian.

Mike Naumenko

Some of Naumenko's songs are more or less faithful translations or remakes of English language source material (the notions of copyright and plagiarism being hardly established in the Soviet Union, especially as regards works created on the other side of the Iron Curtain).

Mount Susitna

The mountain's Dena'ina name is Dghelishla, meaning "Little Mountain"; in English it was simply named for the Susitna River which means Sandy River.

Name of Joan of Arc

In the English language her first name has been repeated as Joan since the fifteenth century because that was the only English equivalent for the feminine form of John during her lifetime.

Novara-class cruiser

The Novara class, known as Rapidkreuzer or Helgoland-Klasse (in English literally rapid cruiser ) was a class of light cruisers of the Austro-Hungarian Navy active during the First World War.

Oleg Kuvaev

He studied first at a school specializing in the English language, then at school majoring in physics and mathematics.

Operation Lobster I

Tributh and Gärtner were both students and neither spoke English well.

Orang Asal

However, all languages are in danger of being lost as the children in the tribes learn Malay and English.

Parti Rakyat Sarawak

The Parti Rakyat Sarawak or, PRS (English: Sarawak Peoples' Party) is a political party in Malaysia.

Penny Bacchiochi

She continues to support a no-tax-increase state budget plans and has cosponsored legislation to make English the official language of Connecticut.

Physalis pubescens

Physalis pubescens is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family known by many common names, including husk tomato and hairy groundcherry in English, and muyaca and capulí in Spanish.

Physalis viscosa

Physalis viscosa is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family known by many common names, including starhair groundcherry and grape groundcherry in English, and arrebenta-cavalo, balãozinho, and camambú in Portuguese.

Plebeian Council

The Concilium Plebis (English: Plebeian Council or People's Assembly) was the principal popular assembly of the ancient Roman Republic.

Pokémon Puzzle League

The game was not available in Japan due to a lack of popularity of the Nintendo 64 console in that region and because it is based on the English dub of the anime.

Polish passport

The two more recent designs are trilingual and written in Polish, English, and French.

Radial tire

A radial tire (more properly, a radial-ply tire) is a particular design of vehicular tire (in British English, tyre).

Rahmatullah Kairanawi

The main Muslim debater was Kairanawi, being assisted by English-speaking Dr. Muhammad Wazîr Khân.

Robert Alwyn Hughes

The family’s first language at home was Welsh until young Robert began attending the Dowlais Central School at five years old (when he began using English).

Roberto Jordan

Many of his songs were covers of English-language rock and pop songs, with arrangements provided by music teachers and producers Enrique Okamura and Eduardo Magallanes.

Roy Boudreau

He served in the opposition shadow cabinet at various times as critic for Department of Tourism and Parks, the Culture and Sport Secretariat, the anglophone section of the Department of Education and the Department of Family and Community Services.

Sa'id Akhtar Rizvi

He there learned Swahili and improved his English in order to better perform his work as a scholar.

Sable

The English and Medieval Latin word sabellum comes from the Old French sable or saible.

Shema Yisrael Torah Network

The Shema Yisrael Torah Network is a group of (mainly English) websites dedicated to spreading Jewish thought, halakha (Jewish law) and other material through the World Wide Web, email and written material.

Shettleston railway station

In 2010, Shettleston station received bilingual name boards, in English and Gaelic, the Gaelic reading "Baile Nighean Sheadna".

Six Kalimas

English rendering:"I seek forgiveness from Allah, my Lord, from every sin I committed knowingly or unknowingly, secretly or openly, and I turn towards Him from the sin that I know and from the sin that I do not know. Certainly You, You (are) the knower of the hidden things and the Concealer (of) the mistakes and the Forgiver (of) the sins. And (there is) no power and no strength except from Allah, the Most High, the Most Great".

Stuart Cavilla

Being a native Gibraltarian, Cavilla is naturally bilingual in English and Spanish as well as speaking Llanito when among other Gibraltarians.

Subject side parameter

English is an example of a "subject first" language, whereas Malagasy is an example of "subject last".

Taça Belo Horizonte de Juniores

The Taça Belo Horizonte de Juniores (or Belo Horizonte Youth Cup, in English), also known as Taça Belo Horizonte de Futebol Júnior is a cup competition usually played by 36 Brazilian under-20 football teams, most of them from Minas Gerais state.

Tan Seng Giaw

His multi-cultural academic and social background has resulted in Seng Giaw being fluent in Mandarin, English, Bahasa Malaysia, and competent in the writing of Malay in the Jawi script.

Tony Connor

From 1971 until he retired in 1999 Connor was professor of English at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.

Tsvi C. Nussbaum

Initially, he did not speak English; but having a talent for science, he later studied medicine and became an otolaryngologist in New York City.

University of California Education Abroad Program

The study abroad program offers students academic opportunities abroad in English, for learning a foreign language and culture, or for taking courses in the language of a host institution.

Upeet

The term is possibly derived, like several words in Madras Bashai, from English.

Utah Transit Authority

In addition to English, assistance can usually be provided in the following languages: Chinese, French, Spanish, Tongan, and Vietnamese.

Vera Begić

Vera has achieved the Master of Laws degree; she can communicate in fluent English and can also speak Russian, Hungarian and Italian.

Vinberg

Kungshögen (English: the Royal Tumulus) in Faurås is one of the objects that have suffered that fate.

William Drake Westervelt

He is noted as one of Hawaii's foremost authorities on island folklore in the English language.

William Lilly

This was the first of its kind to be printed in the English language rather than Latin, and is said to have tutored "a nation in crisis in the language of the stars".

Woking College

The college is also used by other organisations such as English courses for foreign students during the summer holidays and also as a training hall for the Korean martial art Choi Kwang-Do, with the Woking CKD school being based at the college.

World Heritage Memory Net

All of the collections are available in at least 6 official UN languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

World Scrabble Championship 2003

This was the first time that a player won the WSC while representing a country for which English is not the first language.

Września Miasto railway station

Września Miasto (English: Września City) was a narrow-gauge railway stop in Września, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland.

Zamboanga City Council

Composed of 18 members, with 16 councilors elected from Zamboanga City's two legislative districts and two members composed of the President of the Liga ng mga Barangay ng Lungsod ng Zamboanga (English: League of Barangays of the City of Zamboanga) and the President of the Pederasyon ng Sangguniang Kabataan (English: Federation of Youth Councils).


2012 Bucharest hair salon shooting

At around 17:40 EET, Vlădan entered the hairdressing salon Perla (English language: Pearl), located at the intersection between Dorobanti and Iancu de Hunedoara Blvd. in Bucharest, armed with a 9 mm Glock semi-automatic pistol with a magazine capacity of 19 rounds.

Amor Artificial

# "Quevoasaber" (Spelled as colloquial pronunciation for Que voy a saber) English: How Would I Know? or, more loosely, I Have No Clue

ATN Aastha TV

ATN Aastha broadcasts religious and spiritual programming in Hindi, Gujarati, and English, focusing mainly on the teachings and principles of Hinduism.

Charles Beck

He taught physical education classes with a curriculum modeled after Jahn's system, and translated Jahn's 1816 work Deutsche Turnkunst into English as Treatise on Gymnasticks, taken chiefly from the German of F. L. Jahn.

China Today

It is published in Chinese language, English, Spanish, French, Arabic, German and Turkish, and is intended to promote a positive view of the People's Republic of China and its government to people outside of China.

Christoph Peters

It was followed by a collection of short stories in 2001, and, in 2007, his first novel to be published in English, The Fabric of Night (Random House).

CJLD-FM

On February 22, 2012, Mark Tamagi, on behalf of Blackgold Broadcasting Inc, received Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to operate a new English language FM radio station in Leduc.

Dakheel Najafi

The different works on Islamic (Shi’ite) jurisprudence by Al-Najafi, all written in Arabic have never been translated into English or any other language.

Dans une galaxie près de chez vous

Dans une galaxie près de chez vous (English: In a galaxy near you) is a Quebec French language television series that aired on Canal Famille (later Vrak.TV) from 1998 to 2001, and a movie of the same name, released in 2004.

Delta Warp

Delta Warp was released only in Japan but features English text menus and the simple gameplay style means it can be played by non-Japanese readers.

Demographics of Suriname

Dutch (official), Sranan Tongo (Surinamese, sometimes called Taki-Taki, is native language of Creoles and much of the younger population), Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu), Javanese, English (widely spoken), French due to cultural influence from French Guiana, Portuguese and Spanish.

Dorcas Cochran

Her English language lyric for "Under the Bridges of Paris" was recorded by both Eartha Kitt and Dean Martin for United Kingdom chart hits in 1955, although they failed to chart in the United States, and Frankie Laine's recording of her song, "In the Beginning" similarly charted in the UK but not in the US that year.

E-Play

Beside the material, featuring the song lyrics written by in both Serbian and English language, the band recorded a cover version of the Monteniggers track "Pop", originally released in 1996 on the album Tajna marenda.

Eben Dönges High School

Eben Dönges High School (Hoërskool Eben Dönges) is a government-funded, Afrikaans-medium high school in Kraaifontein, Western Cape, South Africa.

Estoc

The French estoc or English "tuck" was a type of European sword in use from the 14th to 17th centuries.

Hinduism in Croatia

So far the Proceedings of the first 3 conferences have been published in English by the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the 1st conference proceedings alone being brought out in India by Munshiram Manoharlal.

Horne v. Flores

The case was brought in 1992 by English Language Learner (ELL) students against the state board of education and state superintendent on the grounds that the Nogales Unified School District had failed to teach the students English, which was vital to their success.

Hugo Schiltz

During World War II Schiltz was a member of the Nationaal-Socialistische Jeugd Vlaanderen (English: National Socialist Youth Flanders).

Killer Tattoo

Elvis really believes he is Elvis Presley (and not an Elvis impersonator), and because the real Elvis didn't speak Thai, Elvis M-16 is incapable of understanding the language and can only respond to English commands.

Kjære Margit

: Et festskrift til Nordens folkelesningsdronning; Margit Sandemo 70 år (in English Dear Margit!:The Anniversary Book to the Queen of Readers of the Nordic Countries; Margit Sandemo 70 Years) is a Norwegian autobiographical book by Norwegian-Swedish fantasy writer Margit Sandemo.

Lucha film

When American producer K. Gordon Murray bought the rights to three of Santo’s lucha libre films, he dubbed them into English for domestic release and changed the name of the wrestling hero to "Samson".

Marshall Thompson

He co-starred with Annie Fargé in the 33-episode CBS sitcom Angel (1960–1961) about an American architect with a charming but scatterbrained French wife, who often got into zany, Lucy Ricardo-esque situations, caused in part by her lack of English; the show was canceled after 33 episodes due to low ratings, despite critical acclaim for French-born newcomer Annie Fargé.

Mundo de Cristal

Mundo de Cristal (English: Crystal World) is the second studio album by Mexican singer Thalía, released in Mexico by Fonovisa Records in 1991.

Nancy Ward

Nanyehi (Cherokee: ᎾᏅᏰᎯ: "One who goes about"), known in English as Nancy Ward (ca. 1738–1822 or 1824) was a Beloved Woman of the Cherokee, which means that she was allowed to sit in councils and to make decisions, along with the chiefs and other Beloved Women.

Northern Wheatear

Its English name has nothing to do with wheat or ears, but is an altered (perhaps bowdlerised) form of white-arse, which refers to its prominent white rump.

Omnism

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) quotes as the term's earliest usage the 1839 long poem "Festus" by English poet Philip J. Bailey: "I am an omnist, and believe in all religions".

Points classification in the Giro d'Italia

The Azzurri d'Italia classification (English: Azure or Sky Blue Italy) is an award in the Giro d'Italia in which points are awarded for the top three stage finishers (4, 2 and 1 point).

Primera Fila: Sasha Benny Erik

Primera Fila: Sasha Benny Erik (English: Front row: Sasha Benny Erik) is the first album by Mexican pop trio Sasha, Benny y Erik released on November 6, 2012 by Sony Music Latin.

Professor Palmboom

While all the books are available in Dutch, the main three albums have also been translated into French, but not into English.

Purva Rana

Rana speaks Hindi and English, she loves singing and modelling, and she is currently a student of Electronic engineering at Himachal Pradesh Technical University.

Remi Raji

Aderemi Raji-Oyelade is a Nigerian poet, writing in English.

Renault Avantime

The name combines the French word "Avant" (meaning "ahead") and the English word "time", with the latter using the English (tīm) rather than French pronunciation (tēm).

Swapner Din

Swapner Din (English language: Chased by Dreams, translation: A Day of Dreams) is a 2004 Bengali drama film directed and written by Buddhadev Dasgupta, who won the National Film Award for Best Direction for it.

Teboho MacDonald Mashinini

A move by South Africa's apartheid government to make the white, colonial language Afrikaans an equal mandatory language of education for all South Africans in conjunction with English was extremely unpopular with black, Bantu and English-speaking South African students.

TraXX FM

TraXX FM (formerly known as Blue Network, Radio 4 and Radio Malaysia Saluran 4 (English: Radio Malaysia Channel 4)) is an English radio station operated by Radio Televisyen Malaysia.

Ts'ao Yung-ho

Ts'ao has studied a number of languages in pursuit of his understanding of early Taiwanese history, meaning he can now make use of ten languages: Taiwanese, Japanese, English, German, Mandarin Chinese, French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin.

William Bullokar

William Bullokar was a 16th-century printer who devised a 40-letter phonetic alphabet for the English language.