How well do you know the English language? Whether or not you are a native speaker, take this quiz to find out – and enjoy a good opportunity to learn a few funny vocabulary facts at the same time.

1. More English words begin with this letter than with any other letter:

• A
• T
• S
• I
• More English words begin with the letter S than with any other letter. According to the New Oxford Dictionary of English, you are also likely to often find P, C, D, M and A at the beginning of words.

2. What’s a “pangram”?

• A sentence that contains all 26 letters of the alphabet
• The result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once
• A kind of constrained writing or word game consisting in writing paragraphs or longer works in which a particular letter or group of letters is avoided
• A word, phrase, number, or other sequence of characters which reads the same backward or forward
• A sentence that contains all 26 letters of the alphabet is called a pangram. The following sentence contains all 26 letters: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

3. A hecatompedon is:

• A building measuring precisely 100ft × 100ft
• A hundred-handed giant in Greek mythology
• A hundred-sided polygon
• An ancient city in west Khurasan, Iran
• A hecatompedon is a building measuring precisely 100ft × 100ft. A Hecatonchire is a hundred-handed giant found in Greek mythology. An hecatogon is a hundred-sided polygon. Hecatompylos, also known as Saddarvazeh or Qumis, was an ancient city in west Khurasan, Iran.

4. 4. This infinity sign ∞ is called:

• Ellipsoidal
• Analemma
• Lemniscate
• Ouroboros
• This infinity sign ∞ is called a lemiscate, it comes from the Latin word lēmniscātus, meaning “decorated with ribbons”.

5. What does flabellation mean?

• It is the act of keeping cool by use of a fan or fan-like instrument
• It is something yielding to the touch, and easily moved or shaken
• It is the state or condition of being shocked or surprised
• It is the act or result of fabulating
• Flabellation is the act of keeping cool by use of a fan or fan-like instrument. It comes from the Latin word flabellum which referred to a large fan used for religious ceremonies.

6. Oology is:

• The study of eggs
• The study of oysters
• The study of oaks
• The study of otters
• Oology is the study of eggs, especially of birds. It is also the shortest word of all the words ending with –ology.

7. A polygon with 99 sides is called:

• An hecatontakaitriacontakaioctagon
• An heptacontakaiheptagon
• An enneacontakaienneagon
• An icosikaitetragon
• A 2-dimensional shape with 99 sides is called an enneacontakaienneagon. A hecatontakaitriacontakaioctagon is a shape with 138 sides. A heptacontakaiheptagon has 77 sides and an icosikaitetragon has 24 sides.

8. Anything described as transpontine is located on the opposite side of a bridge, what do you say when things are located on this side of the bridge?

• Thispontine
• Herepontine
• Interpontine
• Cispontine
• Anything described as cispontine is located on this side of a bridge. In London, cispontine refers to the parts north of the Thames.

9. Mochas are named after a port in Yemen, from which coffee was exported to Europe in the 18th century.

• True
• False
• True. Mocha, Yemen, is a port on the Red Sea that was a major market place for coffee during Ottoman rule.

10. The word xenoglossy refers to:

• The fear of putting on gloss
• A strong aversion to foreign languages
• The apparent ability to speak a language that you've never actually learned
• A strong aversion to shiny objects
• Xenoglossy is the apparent ability to speak a language that you've never actually learned. It comes from Ancient Greek ξένος (ksénos, “foreign”) and γλῶσσα (glôssa, “language”).