• Pinocchio is Italian for “”pine eyes.””
• The word “”queue”” is the only word in the English language that is still pronounced the same way when the last four letters are removed.
• The word “”toast,”” meaning a proposal of health, originated in Rome, where an actual bit of spiced, burned bread was dropped into wine to improve the drink’s flavor, absorb its sediment and thus make it more healthful.
• The word “”bookkeeper”” is the only word in the English language with three back-to-back double letter combinations.
• There is a town in Sweden called “”A”” and a town in France called “”Y.””
• What is called a “”French kiss”” in England and America is known as an “”English kiss”” in France.
• The dot on top of the letter “”i”” is called a “”tittle,”” which is Latin for something very small.
• The letter “”o”” is the oldest letter. It has not changed in shape since its adoption in the Phoenician alphabet, circa 1,300 B.C.
• The letter “”b”” took its present form from a symbol used in Egyptian hieroglyphics to represent a house.
• When used by an ornithologist, the word “”lore”” refers to the space between a bird’s eye and its bill.
• The most common street name in the U.S. is Second Street.