English Language FAQ

  —   nep · o · tis · tic   \ ˌ ne-pə- ˈ tis-tik\   adjective This satirical cartoon by Robert Cruikshank an alleged  network of personal connections between those then running Guys Hospital in London in 1830.  The subtitle is 'Sevilty Rewarded'

To have Dutch courage is to lose fear or inhibition by drinking alcohol. There are two main theories as to it origin

Shampoo is the Hindi/Urdu word chāmpo for a head massage with oil. The first known usage in English was in 1792 from a surprising source.

From the Hindi/Sanskrit word 'pandit'. 

In the  The Selfish Gene   (1976) the scientist Richard Dawkin expands the Darwinist concept natural selection to the realm of ideas.

Recent research suggests that the English language has doubled in size over the last century.

Here are the top ten words with the most entries in the Oxford English Dictionary. 

schmutter [ˈʃmʌtə]  noun Yiddish slang for cloth or clothing

Polish linguist and pacifist, L.L. Zamenhof invented Esperanto ('hope) which he believed could be an international lingua franca or second language.

There are around 180 irregular verbs in English . These are  vastly outnumbered by the thousands of standard ones.