They say that the English language is difficult for non-native speakers to learn. I run into difficulties explaining certain words and grammar rules to my 4 year old daughter. Here are a few: Why do flammable and inflammable mean the same thing? Why behead and not dehead? Mouse:mice. louse:lice. house:hice houses? I'm sure some of you can add to this list.
Part of the problem is That English is a hybrid language comprised of an amalgamation of mainly germanic, romance (mainly french and latin but bits of other "latin" languages)and celtic languages, together with words of greek origin and a smattering of borrowings from other languages from all over the world. It is hardly surprising that English spelling, grammar and pronunciation do not always follow consistent rules. At least English can be spoken without sounding as if one is expectorating instead of speaking. : O
english isnt a language its a conglomeration of languages developed by a people that were so interbred with outside tribes and mixed with so many cultures...it should be called "muttlage"
It gets real interesting here in the South. Some world wide universal words are Dollar, Cold Beer, and the middle finger works all over the world.
It's interesting that the 'twangy' dialect of TN and KY resembles the Irish and Scottish roots of the people who first settled there. This also explains the preoccupation with hard, dark, drinkable spirits.
My wife gets (an forwards) tons of these to me from work. She teaches ESL (English as a Second Language) 5th Graders in a totally English immersed environment, and always laughs at how complex English truly is, and how hard it is for people to wrap their minds around this chaotic language:
English can create some very severe complications, to wit: If: the plural of mouse is mice,.... and the plural of louse is lice,..... then why isn't the plural of spouse, "spice"? See...that got me into a PECK of trouble there! Some women have absolutely NO sense of humor whatsoever! I've found a couple already personally!
This all confuses me. I don't speak English. I speak 'merican. Yup, this whole thread has me fit to be tied.
It is a strange language in which skating on thin ice can get you in hot water. On English Pronunciation:
A man went berserk with a combine harvester and destroyed wheat crops on several farms....in a statement by the local police chief, he said...."these are serious crimes...and we are taking all steps to apprehend this criminal... we are looking for a cereal killer."
I'm sure you will enjoy this. I never knew one word in the English language that can be a noun, verb, adj, adv, prep. UP Read until the end ... you'll laugh. This two-letter word in English has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is 'UP.' It is listed in the dictionary as an [adv], [prep], [adj], or [v]. It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election and why is it Up to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends, brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and fix UP the old car. At other times, this little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special. And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look UP the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out, we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it soaks UP the earth. When it does not rain for awhile, things dry UP. One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now . . . my time is UP! Oh . . . one more thing: What is the first thing you do in the morning and the last thing you do at night? U P! Did that one crack you UP? Don't screw UP. Send this on to everyone you look UP in your address book . . . or not . . . it's UP to you. Now I'll shut UP!
