Friday, November 18, 2005

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Making sense of the English language...

Hi everyone
A good explanation of why foreigners have a hard time with the English language found on a posts on a Lamma Island forum site ( I could add another 1000 more examples, but it would make the post too long):

Have you ever wondered why non-native speakers have trouble with the English Language?
Let's face it, English is a stupid language.
There is no egg in the eggplant
No ham in the hamburger
And neither pine nor apple in the pineapple.
English muffins were not invented in England
French fries were not invented in France.

We sometimes take English for granted
But if we examine its paradoxes we find that
Quicksand takes you down slowly
Boxing rings are square
And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
If writers write, how come fingers don't fing.
If the plural of tooth is teeth
Shouldn't the plural of phone booth be phone beeth (Or the plural of toothbrush, teethbrush)?
If the teacher taught, why didn't the preacher praught.
If a vegetarian eats vegetables
What the heck does a humanitarian eat?
Why do people recite at a play
Yet play at a recital?
Park on driveways and drive on parkways
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy
Of a language where a house can burn up as it burns down
And in which you fill in a form by filling it out
And a bell is only heard once it goes!
English was invented by people, not computers
And it reflects the creativity of the human race (Which of course isn't a race at all)
That is why
When the stars are out they are visible but when the lights are out they are invisible
And why it is that when I wind up my watch it starts
But when I wind up this observation, it ends.

Go figure....