http://plex.us/archives/word.html
It has some amazing facts, such as
AMBIDEXTROUSLY is the longest word in common use with no letter appearing more than once.
ONE THOUSAND contains the letter A, but none of the words from one to nine hundred ninety-nine has an A.
It is claimed that -OUGH can be pronounced 9 different ways in the following sentence:
A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed.However, David Olsen says that slough does not provide a unique pronunciation for -ough, but that HOUGH (pronounced hock) is a Scottish word, meaning the ankle joint of a horse, cow, or foul, or to hamstring, or it is an obsolete British word meaning to clear the throat. Olsen says that in order for the sentence to have 9 different ways of pronouncing -ough, it could be rewritten as:
A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed, houghed, and hiccoughed.Ted Clarke says there are 10 pronunciations for OUGH. He adds LOUGH, the Irish form of loch.
Check out the site for more fascinating facts!
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