The word 'mortgage' comes from a French law term that means 'death pledge'.
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The word 'mile' is derived from the Latin word for 1,000 - the number of paces it took the average Roman!
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'Vodka' is Russian for 'little water'.
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WAS IT A CAR OR A CAT I SAW.. 'WASITACARORACATISAW'.. This is the only English sentence which even if we read in reverse, it'll give the same sentence.
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Before the English speaking world was exposed to the fruit, the color orange was referred to as “geoluhread” which is Old English for red-yellow.
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The phrase 'rule of thumb' is derived from and old English law which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.
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Iceland has been so culturally isolated through history since the Vikings, that compared to other Scandinavian counties, people who speak Icelandic can still read the old Norsk sagas.
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Switching letters is called spoonerism. For example, saying "jag of Flapan", instead of "flag of Japan".
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