Lingua Lore: 49 Eye-Opening Facts About Languages Around the World

The most complex character in the Chinese language takes 57 strokes to write. It is a noodle dish.

Expecto Patronum roughly translates to "I await a protector" in Latin.

Many English words used to be spelled phonetically (e.g. debt was 'det') until some scholars purposely added silent letters to make them look more like Greek or Latin words, sometimes erroneously.

Washoe the chimpanzee was the first non-human to use the American Sign Language. When Washoe's caretaker returned to work after a miscarriage, Washoe ignored her. The caretaker then signed "MY BABY DIED", to which Washoe replied "CRY", simulating a tear running down the caretaker's face.

Young children, especially twins, will often develop their own language that they can understand but is unintelligible to any adult observers.

There is a short German rhyme about procrastination that also rhymes when translated into English. "Morgen, morgen, nur nicht heute, sagen alle faulen leute." in English means "Later, later, not today, all the lazy people say."

Ye, as in "ye olde whatever", is pronounced 'the'. It comes from typesetters using y instead of the Old English letter þ which had a ‘th’ sound.

Paraguay is the only country in the South America where more people speak a native language than a colonial one (90% Guarani vs 87% Spanish).

The word ‘Saudade’ is a Portuguese word with no literal English translation. It means, ‘the empty sadness and longing for that which may never return that accompanies nostalgia.’