One of the confusing things about the English language is the same word can have more than one meaning. Sometimes both the pronunciation and spelling are the same as with the word cold – if I have a cold it means I am sick with a virus, while if I am cold it means the temperature is uncomfortably low. With other words the spelling is different but the pronunciation is the same. If I have the flu it means I am sick with a more serious virus, while if I say that “I flew to Europe” it means that I made the trip by airplane. But, what does a casual listener interpret when I talk about “the bird flu / flew ... “? Read on to see what happens to poor Buba when he walks into a doctor's office and responds to the receptionist's question with a single word.

Bubba walked into a doctor's office and the receptionist asked him

what he had. Bubba said: "Shingles." So she wrote down his name, address,

medical insurance number and told him to have a seat.

Fifteen minutes later a nurse's aide came out and asked Bubba what he

had.

Bubba said, "Shingles." So she wrote down his height, weight, a

complete medical history and told Bubba to wait in the examining room.

A half hour later a nurse came in and asked Bubba what he had. Bubba

said, "Shingles." So the nurse gave Bubba a blood test, a blood pressure

test, an electrocardiogram, and told Bubba to take off all his clothes

and wait for the doctor.

An hour later the doctor came in and found Bubba sitting patiently in

the nude and asked Bubba what he had. Bubba said, "Shingles." The doctor

asked, "Where?"

Bubba said, "Outside on the truck. Where do you want me to unload 'em