English is understood to be one of the most spoken languages worldwide. It is one of the two working languages of the UN, along with French. Most people around the world use English as the medium of communication. Did you know that English is the official language of about 67 countries and 27 non-sovereign entities such as Puerto Rico, Gibraltar, Bermuda, etc? Well, we cannot deny that knowing how to speak English, makes travelling easier.  Every year on  April 23 English Language Day is celebrated and it is dedicated to the most popular language used around the world. UN English Language Day: 15 Interesting Facts About The English Language. 

English Language Day is a United Nations (UN) observance that also coincides with William Shakespeare's birthday, World Book and Copyright Day. English is one of the easiest languages but can get funny and complex as well. At least, that is what some of the fun facts say! Check out a few cool facts about English that will make you go 'WOAH!':

  1. The time when the first English dictionary was written dates back to 1755!

  2. 'Twyndyllyng' is the longest vowel-less word in the English language.

  3. The only word in English that ends with the letters "-mt" is "dreamt"

  4. We pronounce "ough" in 9 different ways! For example, the word "dough" is pronounced differently than "tough".

  5.  Does this sentence-"It is true for all that that that that that that that refers to is not the same that that that that refers to"- make sense to you? Well, it is a line that contains identical words 7 times in a row but still makes sense!

  6. According to the Oxford Modern English, "Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis" is the longest word.

  7. There are some words in English that have no meaning and they are called "ghost words". For example "Phantomnation".

  8. A new word is added to the dictionary in about every two hours!

  9. Swims will be swims even when turned upside down.

  10. “Go!” is the shortest grammatically correct sentence!

  11. India has a higher English speaking population, as its second language.

  12. Filler words such as "like" or "basically", are called crutch words

  13. The word "lol" (Laugh Out Loud) was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in the year 2011.

According to the official website of the UN, "the purpose of the UN's language days is to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity!" It also promotes an "equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organization." The six official languages of the UN are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 23, 2020 12:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).