A duck’s quack doesn’t echo, and no one knows why.

The "save" icon on Microsoft Word shows a floppy disk,
with the shutter on backwards.

The combination "ough" can be pronounced in nine different
ways. The following sentence contains them all: "A rough-coated,
dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of
Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and
hiccoughed."

The verb "cleave" is the only English word with two
synonyms which are antonyms of each other: adhere and separate.

The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a
letter is "uncopyrightable."

Addendum:

From: Phil Abercrombie <>
Date: 10 Aug 1998 16:10:09 -0400

"Rowland C. Croucher" <> writes:

> The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without
> repeating a letter is "uncopyrightable."

What about dermatoglyphics, hydropneumatics and sulphogermanics?

Not exactly in common usage, are they? 🙂
– Ed.

Facetious and abstemious contain all the vowels in the correct
order, as does arsenious, meaning "containing arsenic."

Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards, and are on the Australian
coat of arms for that reason.

Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about
ten.

The word "Checkmate" in chess comes from the Persian
phrase "Shah Mat," which means "the king is dead".

Pinocchio is Italian for "pine head."

Camel’s milk does not curdle.

An animal epidemic is called an epizootic.

Murphy’s Oil Soap is the chemical most commonly used to clean
elephants.

The United States has never lost a war in which mules were used.

Blueberry Jelly Bellies were created especially for Ronald Reagan.

All porcupines float in water.

Hang On Sloopy is the official rock song of Ohio.

Did you know that there are coffee flavored PEZ?

Lorne Greene had one of his nipples bitten off by an alligator while
he was host of "Lorne Greene’s Wild Kingdom."

Cat’s urine glows under a blacklight.

If you bring a raccoon’s head to the Henniker, New Hampshire town
hall, you are entitled to receive $.10 from the town.

The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days of
yore when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on
the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.

Non-dairy creamer is flammable.

The airplane Buddy Holly died in was the "American Pie."
(Thus the name of the Don McLean song.)

Texas is also the only state that is allowed to fly its state flag
at the same height as the U.S. flag.

Pamela Anderson Lee is Canada’s Centennial Baby, being the first
baby born on the centennial anniversary of Canada’s independence.

When opossums are playing ‘possum, they are not "playing."
They actually pass out from sheer terror.

The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year
because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the
weight of all the books that would occupy the building.-Same thing with
the library at the University of Massachusetts.