How does one pronounce 'Ghoti'?

Simple -- FISH! It's the gh in laugh, the o in women, and the ti in nation, which comes out to fish!

we have a popular saying that "english is a phunny language". as a funny information it is a good one but when it comes to communicating i think we should use what others can understand. or else the glossary will be longer than the story itself.

I like this one :) All we can do is amuse ourselves with the shortcomings of the most prevalent language. Coz messin up with Ingliti (read english) is just not feasible.

We are taught 'phonics' in school. That is, to spell words they way they sound. The most confusing thing I noticed about English is that the word 'phonics' is NOT spelled phonetically! If it were, it would be 'fonix', not 'phonics'. Well, granted, phonics is one way to spell it but certainly not the easiest! When we hear the 'f' sound, we automatically think of 'f', not 'ph' or 'gh'. Why in the world it's not spelled 'fonix' is beyond me! As an English major, I've been fascinated by the English language, particularly in the reasons WHY some words are spelled the way they are. One thing I can say for sure is that I'm very thankful I was born into an English-speaking country and have never had to learn to speak, or spell, English as a second language. I admire anyone who has mastered the English language when it is not their native tongue.

No. I think that we should keep it the way it is. And that really makes no sense at all. It's true that different letters can be pronounced differently in English, but there are rules. "gh" is only pronounced as an "f" when at the end of a word, never the beginning. In English "ti" is never pronounced as "sh" not even in words like nation. "Tion" is pronounced "shon" as a whole. When these letters are spit up it reverts back to the other pronunciation. If that makes any sense. The placement and grouping of letters changes the pronunciation in many languages, not just English. English may have more exceptions and may be slightly less strict on the rules, but there are still rules nonetheless.