No. 253.

The collective noun for a group of apes is 'a shrewness' or 'a troop'.

(Source: Yahoo answers.)

No. 243.

John Milton invented the word 'pandemonium'. He uses it to describe Hell in Paradise Lost.

(Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/27/olympic-opening-ceremony.)

No. 159.

Kathy Burke has a dog called Shenanigans.

(Source: The Graham Norton Show.)

No. 143.

The French word for paperclip is 'trombone'.

(Source: QIkipedia Twitter feed.)

No. 126.

One lingistics professor, as an experiment, decided to speak to his child entirely in Klingon. He eventually stopped when it became clear that his son only used it in his presence.

(Source: Planet Word, by J. P. Davidson)

No. 116.

Pharaoh translates as 'great house'.

(Source: Horrible Histories game show, Gory Games.)

No. 89.

The German word for 'glove', rather quaintly, sounds like 'hand shoe'.

(Source: Told by friend. Verified by translation website.)

No. 83.

The Finnish word for 'pedant', pilkunnussija, translates as 'comma fucker'.

(Source: QI Elves Twitter feed: Qikipedia.)

No. 75.

The word 'essay' comes from the French 'essayer', which means to 'try'.

(Source: Lecturer. Verified by Googling.)

No. 68.

Rather appropriately, Pumba's, the warthog from The Lion King, name is Swahili for 'silly'.

(Source: QIkipedia Twitter feed.)

No. 54.

The first recorded use of the word 'nerd' is attributed to Dr. Seuss. It appears in his book If I ran the Zoo.

(Source: Twitter feed WTheFFacts.)

No. 21.

The word 'sadistic', as well as its variations, derives from the Marquis de Sade. His life, and written works, were filled with depraved acts of debauchery. Consequently, they are 'sade-istic'.

(Source: Introduction in Oxford World's classics edition of Sade's The Misfortunes of Virtue.)