August 29, 2006
A Little Tuesday Morning Humor
Sent to me by my brother Doug. Enjoy
Reasons Why The English Language Is So Hard To Learn:
1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to
present the present.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail
18) After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
By the way...there is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither
apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France.
Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads aren't sweet nor breads.
Quicksand works 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? Doesn't it seem crazy that
you can make amends but not one amend. If you have a bunch of odds and
ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? Is it an
odd, or an end?
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?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man
and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy
of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in
which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes
off by going on.
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the
creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not 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 doesn't "Buick" rhyme with "quick"?
Why do you park in the driveway?
Posted by Jo at August 29, 2006 05:02 AM
Let alone drive on a parkway!
Posted by GM at August 29, 2006 05:53 AM
What was the greatest thing BEFORE sliced bread? Do ducks sit..if so, why?
Why do people ask if they can ask a question, when they already have?
Posted by Sonnabend at August 29, 2006 06:37 AM
If the plural of mouse is mice, why are there houses instead of hice?
Posted by That 1 Guy at August 29, 2006 06:49 AM
One sheriff, two sherrifim?
One blouse, two blice?
One Jackass, two Jackii?
And why are there so many more horses asses than there are horses?
Posted by GM at August 29, 2006 07:44 AM
And if the opposite of pro is con, then the opposite of progress must be....
Posted by Woody at August 29, 2006 07:52 AM
GM and Woody,
You two are too funny to be believed. As I was telling my students, they need to go over there to discern if they're going to be required to write their essays right. Right.
And how about "words" like: rite, nite, kwik, and a list far too long for me to list here.
Note: GM, with your permission, I am going to put your examples on the board.
Posted by tad at August 29, 2006 10:02 AM
Permission Granted. ;-)
Posted by GM at August 29, 2006 11:17 AM
My favorite, is the following:
The sweater was a little big.
Posted by civil truth at August 29, 2006 12:20 PM
Which reminds me...The sweater was wearing a sweater on his wearing journey.
Posted by civil truth at August 29, 2006 12:31 PM
They say our language is the most difficult to learn and it's SO true. My daughters all had to take foreign language classes in middle school, HS and now in college...they have peers from other countries doing the visit thingy- by and far it takes them longer to learn our language and slang than it took my kids to learn 3 other languages.
Posted by Raven at August 29, 2006 01:41 PM
Great post, GM! I smiled all the way through.
A true ESL story from my days of teaching adult Koreans...
Student: "What is an eariot? The word not in dictionary."
Teacher: "An eariot? That's not an English word. Where did you hear that word?"
Student: "I playing basketball and made mistake. They called me eariot."
Teacher: "Ah! You mean 'idiot.'"
Student: "Yes, eariot. What means?"
Not only is English tricky to learn, but the phonetic sounds themselves can also be a problem, especially for Asians.
Posted by Always On Watch at August 30, 2006 05:03 AM
I'll finish reading this after I get back from Jonnie's All-Nite Donut Shoppe
*snort*
Posted by Jennifer at September 2, 2006 08:13 PM