Nintendo trademarked the phrase “It’s on like Donkey Kong” in 2010.
100 Mind-Blowing Phrase Facts
The commonly known phrase “to a T” means something that fits just right. Interestingly enough, this expression derives from a similar phrase “to a title,” which is a small mark that is used in spelling norms, like the dots of i’s or j’s, or an accent mark.
“Finger-Lickin’ Good” had a bit of a mishap when translated to Chinese for their first KFC outlets in the country, the famous phrase became “eat your fingers off.”
Palindromes are the most difficult kind of phrase to form. According to language experts, the hardest phrase to create is a palindrome: a sentence or group of sentences that are the same when reading forward or backwards. Examples include 01 A man, a plan, a canal – Panama; 02 Madam, I’m Adam; 03 Never odd or even.
The Canary Islands are named after dogs, not birds. One of the fun facts you wouldn’t think about: The Canary Islands aren’t named after canary birds! The location was named after dogs. Despite being off the coast of Northwestern Africa, the archipelago is part of Spain. The area’s Spanish name is Islas Canarias. This name is rooted in the Latin phrase Canariae Insulae, or “island of dogs.”
The “Rule of Thumb” phrase originates from old English laws. This law stated that you could not beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.
The word “Checkmate” in chess comes from the Persian phrase “Shah Mat.” Shah Mat means “the king is dead.”
In the early days of the telephone, operators would pick up a call and use the phrase, “Well, are you there?”. It wasn’t until 1895 that someone suggested answering the phone with the phrase “Number please?”
The small dot over a lowercase i or j has a name, the tittle. The phrase “To a T” derives from this dot and was originally, “To a Tittle.”
The chess term “checkmate” is from a 14th-century Arabic phrase, “shah mat,” meaning “the king is helpless.”
The first Apple logo isn’t what you would think. Originally, it featured Sir Isaac Newton sitting beneath a tree, with an apple about to fall on his head. It was designed back in 1976 and featured a phrase around the border that read “Newton…A mind forever voyageing through strange seas of thought…alone”.
Oll Korrect. The origin of the phrase ‘OK’ dates back to a fad for intentionally misspelt abbreviations in 1830s Boston. When witty Bostonians began spelling ‘all correct’ as ‘Oll Korrect’, newspapers picked up on the joke. In 1840, US President Martin Van Buren, originally from Kinderhook in New York, adopted the phrase for his re-election campaign and his supporters set up ‘Old Kinderhook’, or ‘OK’, clubs across the country. The term quickly made the transition from slang to legitimate use.
The phrase ‘to pay through the nose’ dates back to the Danes who would slit the noses of the Irish who wouldn’t pay their poll tax.