The combination "ough" can be pronounced in nine different ways.  The following sentence contains them all: "A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful plough man 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 British once went to war over a sailor's ear. It happened in 1739, when Britain launched hostilities against Spain because a Spanish officer had supposedly sliced off the ear of a ship's captain named Robert Jenkins.

Picasso's full name was: Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santisma Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso.