why is english so different from other languages? part one: vocab

Across the world, numbers are written very differently, with Britain standing alone in Europe (surprise, surprise...):

Decimal marks:
Point "." – Blue
Comma "," – Green
Eastern Arabic numerals – Red
Data unavailable – Grey

Decimal mark - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Take some words - which are written in the same way across the world, but not in English...

annanas vs pineapple:

Columbus encountered the pineapple in 1493 on the Leeward island of Guadeloupe. He called it piña de Indes, meaning "pine of the Indians", and brought it back with him to Europe, thus making the pineapple the first bromeliad to leave the New World.

The question is: why did the English adapt the original European name of pineapple, while most European countries eventually adapted the name ananas, which came from the Tupi word nanas(also meaning pineapple).

etymology - Why is "pineapple" in English but "ananas" in all other languages? - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
Now You Know, Source for more facts follow NowYouKno

Here are some wonderful etymology maps:
Pain in the ananas: etymology maps | News | theguardian.com
Europe etymology maps (some new, some old) : europe

And here's someone getting into beer:
Words for beer | Zythophile

Back to some more confusion:
actual vs current:


Actually, the French meaning is older and nearer to the original Latin than English:
Online Etymology Dictionary

Here's a nice little video:



ACTUAL vs CURRENT: What's the difference? - YouTube

But the English language might be moving in the other direction:
meaning - Using “actual” to signify “current” - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

A lot of these are 'false friends':
False friend - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
50 Spanish-English False Friend Words | Mental Floss
False friends - Vocabulary - Learning English
French language: French-English False Friends
BBC - Languages - Your Say - False friends
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