English, a crazy language!

@Furrukh (701)
Pakistan
December 12, 2006 9:32am CST
There is no egg in eggplant or 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? Now i know why i flunked my english. It's not my fault but the silly language doesn't quite know whether it's coming or going.
63 responses
@Jusred (1578)
• United States
12 Dec 06
LOL...I do agree there are many words and phrases that have no logical origin in English...I have heard it is one of the most difficult languages to learn, but with it being the only one i have known or am fluent in, far be it from me to make any comparisons to others~ Good discussion!
@jricbt (1454)
• Brazil
13 Dec 06
All languages have things like this. All. But I still think that portuguese has one of the worst grammar rules possible.
1 person likes this
@ram_18y (275)
• India
13 Dec 06
telugu is my language.it is the vast language.
1 person likes this
@yourgoogly (1671)
• India
12 Dec 06
fun - fun
English is a funny language.
1 person likes this
• China
13 Dec 06
no,I thought the Chinese is crazy
1 person likes this
• China
13 Dec 06
chinese
1 person likes this
@00fear (3216)
• United States
12 Dec 06
haha, i didnt really think of that one right there. were the hell did you get this? did you just get this from the top of your head or was it a website? haha, thats cool.
@soFh123 (355)
• Pakistan
12 Dec 06
lolz...Its funny.. I never even thought this.From where you get this stuff ? Anyhow i just rated you +ve :D cheers for u !
1 person likes this
• India
13 Dec 06
This is something that might add some more funto the language The word FISH if you notice closely can be spelt as GHOTI according to the way we pronounce words in English. CONFUSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let me explain.. In the word TOUGH - 'GH' has a 'F' sound. In the word 'CONDITION' - 'O' has a 'I' sound. In the word 'CONDITION' again - 'TI' has a 'SH' sound. Hence GHOTI can also be read as FISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1 person likes this
• India
12 Dec 06
yes it is super language because it is world level language and then it is improved our knowledge in life the language getting just difficult.read and write learining english paper
1 person likes this
@anup12 (4177)
• India
13 Dec 06
English is a funny language indeed it acn fool u sometimes
@ram_18y (275)
• India
13 Dec 06
my mother language is gr8
• Malaysia
12 Dec 06
abc 123 :O
@ram_18y (275)
• India
13 Dec 06
english is a global language isn't it
• Malaysia
13 Dec 06
i find how come funny @@".. it doesn't mean anything
• Philippines
12 Dec 06
lol... i like that though it heard it before but it never fails to make me laugh...
1 person likes this
@shinobi (389)
• Philippines
13 Dec 06
I think i got ur point...its a bit crazy..yeah.
@ram_18y (275)
• India
13 Dec 06
first my mother tongue then any language
• India
13 Dec 06
how can you say that explain??
• United States
13 Dec 06
What about other languages. Do they have the same kind of parodoxes? Or is English the only funny language. I know the Chinese and Japanese have a horrible time trying to translate into English.
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
13 Dec 06
The romance languages (French, Spanish, Italian, etc.) have their quirks but they have some pretty consistent rules for usage, pronunciation, etc. And because they have common roots if you know one it's easier to learn another, because many of the words are similar. Bread- in Spanish, pan; in French, pain Easy- in Spanish, facil; in French, facile
• Germany
13 Dec 06
English is an intersting language. Sometimes it does not make sense. It does not follow the rules always and there are so many exceptions in it
• India
13 Dec 06
but exceptions are everywhere it is also in hindi, french etc. you cannot argue on that .
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
13 Dec 06
How about when some thing is hot it's cool or when it's cool it's hot,
@satlove (1110)
• India
13 Dec 06
ohh..........your post is too funny........but it is absolutely true........no egg in eggplant.........man awesome one!!!!!!!
@satlove (1110)
• India
13 Dec 06
ohh..........your post is too funny........but it is absolutely true........no egg in eggplant.........man awesome one!!!!!!!
• Anguilla
13 Dec 06
I read this and it is so interesting and true English is really a funny language. It depends on how you use words the meaning changes a whole lot. Thank you for the insite I truly truly enjoyed it.
@crassus (113)
• United States
13 Dec 06
There are a lot of odd rules for English. It's such rules that allow anyone who can remember all of them to feel good.
• India
13 Dec 06
yep..!! eng s more funny than it appears 2 b..more over a lot of french words r used up in english.. but it s too good to give the perfect expressions.. wich unfortunately comes out of practice only..