tegestologist
n. a collector of beer mats
Language
Shibboleth
Isaac Asimov proposed a simple way to distinguish chemists from non-chemists: Ask them to read aloud the word unionized.
Non-chemists will pronounce it “union-ized”, he said — and chemists will pronounce it “un-ionized.”
In a Word
discalced
adj. without shoes
Excuse Me?
The Czech sentence Strč prst skrz krk (“stick finger through throat”) has no vowels — which makes it a notoriously difficult tongue-twister.
It’s so difficult, in fact, that Czechs challenge each other to say it — as a test for sobriety.
In a Word
ucalegon
n. a neighbor whose house is on fire
Limerick
There was a young lady named Susie
Whose surname said she was a floozie.
Cathouse was the name;
It caused her such shame
She chose to pronounce it Cathouse.
In a Word
jerque
v. to search for smuggled goods
Coincidenza
There are 3 letters in the Italian word for 6, sei.
There are 4 letters in the Italian word for 8, otto.
There are 5 letters in the Italian word for 10, dieci.
There are 6 letters in the Italian word for 12, dodici.
Finger Fumblers
If you don’t speak, you can’t misspeak, right? Not so: American Sign Language has the equivalent of tongue twisters, known as finger fumblers.
One example is “good blood, bad blood” — which is hard to say in speech or sign.
Black Friday
Famous people born on Friday the 13th:
- Don Adams
- Samuel Beckett
- Steve Buscemi
- Fidel Castro
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus
- Thomas Jefferson
- Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
- Georges Simenon
The fear of this date is called paraskavedekatriaphobia.