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There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins were not invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies, while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write, but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce, and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So, one moose, 2 meese? One index, two indices? Is cheese the plural of choose?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
In what language do people recite at a play, and play at a recital?
Ship by truck, and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? Park on driveways and drive on parkways? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell another?
When a house burns up, it burns down. You fill in a form by filling it out, and an alarm clock goes off by going on.
When the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it.
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Posted by Wayne on 2007-11-24 04:16:06 | Rating: | Views: 79
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Why are apartments so close together? The english language is most certainly a mystery. good blog!
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Posted by smilinirisheyes
on 2007-11-24 05:02:16
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lol Good post Wayne. Shows how crazy our language really is.
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Posted by scotslad60
on 2007-11-24 07:28:41
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That's why I have chosen to stick
with 'Paulinese' at least it's my language and I understand it, and people who know me, understand better than I do... Ha ha :P
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Posted by olp76
on 2007-11-24 08:23:11
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And we wonder why foreigners have such a hard time learning our language!
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Posted by Forgetmeknot
on 2007-11-24 11:05:25
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I am really glad I learned English from infancy.
Can you imagine being a foreigner trying to learn the language?
hehe
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Posted by DifficultSoul
on 2007-11-25 01:24:38
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Hehe.
ForgetmeKnot-..I did not mean to mirror your comment.
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Posted by DifficultSoul
on 2007-11-25 01:25:40
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Great post wayne- They do say that english is one of the hardest languages to learn. Hmm i wonder why?xx
PS. Thanks for the stone you through at me.xx
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Posted by bubblydi
on 2007-11-25 02:52:31
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