Funny Facts About The English Language!
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The Fun Thing Of The English Language
The English language can be unpredictable and confusing- but at least we can have fun with it! Here are some unique language oddities to wrap your mind around:
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***Paradoxies
In the English language...
...quicksand works slowly...
...boxing rings are square...
...a human race is not a race...
...a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig...
....English muffins were not invented in England or French fries in France
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***Did you also know:
..... that a house can burn up as it burns down?...
... you fill in a form by filling it out...
.....we have noses that run and feet that smell?...
...and an alarm goes off by going on?
Also, don't forget that people recite at a play and play at a recital...
....we ship by truck and send cargo by ship....
....we park a car on a driveway and drive a car on a parkway....
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*** If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
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And why is it that writers write, but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce, and hammers don't ham?
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***....If you take an Oriental person and spin him around several times, does he become disoriented?
....Why is it that whether you sit down or sit up, the results are the same?
.....If brother becomes Brethren, why doesn’t mother become Methren?
And why is it that a slim chance and a fat chance are the same thing...
...while a wise man and a wise guy are opposties?
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*** If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn’t it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree debarked, and dry cleaners depressed?
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***And;....when the stars are out, they are visible...
...but when the lights are out, they are invisible.
Do you notice that there is no egg in eggplant?...
...or ham in the hamburger...
....nor apple or pine in pineapple!
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***The masculine pronouns are he, his, and him...
....but imagine the feminine pronouns being she, shis, and shim!
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***PLURALS:
.....The plural of box is boxes... but...
.... the plural of ox is oxen, not oxes!
The plural of goose is geese... but...
....the plural of moose isn't meese!
The plural of mouse is mice... but....
...the plural of house isn't hice!
The plural of foot is feet.... but....
.....the plural of boot isn't beet.
The plural of tooth is teeth... but...
....the plural of booth isn't beeth!
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And why is it, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it?
English is a silly language — it doesn't know if it is coming or going.
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Comments
Very interesting. Thumbs up
Well written hub on fun language, thanks for sharing. creativeone59
If you would like to find more oddities of the English language, then read Crazy English and Anguished English by Richard Lederer. He also wrote Get the to a Punnery - another funny book about spoken English.
=D fun!
Nice hub! I enjoy reading your paradox.
What a fun hub! I enjoyed this!
Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for the laugh! I really enjoyed this. :D
Nice read. Love it!
Great observations, of course being English I never notice these things but use them all the time.
Funny and fun stuff! I've come across many of these throughout my life and in a few of those times, it was introduced to me by a new English teacher. Thanks!
Lol good stuff! And yes I completely agree...I remembered pondering over a few of these as a young child trying to learn the english language. It can be quite tricky and not the same rule applies to every word! It was good fun reading this! Thanks for sharing!
very funny, i like your sense of humour, great hub.
Hey, you had this one in the forums. sneaky. LOL
This was a fun hub to read. Thank you!
and you havent even touched at the difference between the various englishes... lol. Can be even much more confusing. I remember at a conference in Spain with an australian chairman telling us, as it was so hot in there, "if you want to go outside and suck on a fag, be my guest!"... we english understood perfectly well what he meant(and took him up on it) but the north americans were a different story lol..
this is really funny stuff.
HA HA HA HA .You must see GREEK LANGUANGE where everything have 10 different words for one meaning.
Great hub!!! So funny and so true. Kudos!
Thanks for pointing these out. I enjoyed it.
This is certainly fun stuff....thanks for sharing..
Thannks for the visit! Very Interesting Articles!
love it.....so very much........
this is a really fun play on words! thanks! :)
Very witty. It's an odd language. Have you ever read Eats Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss for more oddities of English?
With over 1 million words...it is insane to try and keep up with them all.
I was raised on English and am still confused by it, esp. the stupid way we speeeeell things....and all of the "slang" is total madness !!!
Cent...scent ? What ! ! ? ?
A very humerous yet enlightening hub, especially to a writer like myself. It is an amazing language with all its eccentricities. I thoroughly enjoyed this and hope you provide us with many more hubs of this nature.
I loved it blbhhdcn..read it laughing all the way through
me even! everytime i read this i keep laughing again and again nyahaha
Very cute! :)
Currently working with my daughter on the basic rules of spelling ( i before e except after c, which I've just found they've kicked off the official "rules" list.) I'm tearing my hair out trying to explain all the exceptions to the rules. Thanks for giving me a laugh on a subject that is currently driving me insane!
What a fun hub! Thanks.
This was quite an enjoyable hub. Thanks!
I Enjoyed The Peculiarities About The 'English' Language.
It Was Definitely A Fun Read.
LOL! This was very funny, good work.
That was quiet interesting, loved reading it:)
This is a great hub. My hubby who is English was saying how a Danish staff member he had was so confused that we have so many words meaning the same thing in the English language. Thoroughly enjoyed this one.
Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty
Fun Hub!! Thanks for sharing.....things to ponder. I love learning the meanings of words and their roots. I've recently learned that much of the Welsh and Celtic language derived from Hebrew. Enjoyed this. Peace n' Blessings. ~k
Good fun stuff here :)
Yes, you're so right! That's why I suggest to my Thai in-laws: 'just listen, and repeat what you HEAR.' Listen closely, but don't look for 'rules' or strict meaning.. just copy like a 2 year old or a parrot. Language is repetitively impressed into our brains. That's all..
Geoff.
"Quicksand works slowly .... ?" Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Let me loose and see how fast I am! Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?
Gee whiz! Nevertheless, thanks for giving "ME" that much importance! (Wink!)
Quicksand.
Loved all of this as I see many others do too.
enjoyed the read :) keep up the good work! x
There were quite a few new ones (to me) in there. I had a boss that would tell me to lower a car lift by saying, "raise it down." In the context of your examples, that actually makes sense! Or how about, "I could care less." I have one question, is one sheep a "shoop"?
Great hub, and thanks for being a fan - I'm glad you found me, now I am your fan and get to read your hubs.
I love it...was a lot of fun to read!
very nice article about the confusing language..
Excellent! I love this kind of stuff. It's us, the foreigners who understand best the sillyness of the English language. Here is an extract of my hub
http://hubpages.com/hub/I-am-so-happy
to further illustrate the point.
And I thought I saw them all.
So many new ones here. Great stuff.
hello benjilyn, my french husband tells me that french fries are a french discovery. At the opening of the first french railway from Paris to Versailles in the 1830's.
The chef who was in charge of the reception banquet, was waiting for the train to arrive, but it was delayed, so he was forced to stop cooking the chips. When the train arrived, he deep-fried the pre-cooked chips, and discovered that they became soft-inside and crispy brown on the outside (not soft and "whitey" like english chips). And so began the life of "frites", thanks to the french. I really enjoyed this hub, and will post the french-enlish clichés we have been matching-up soon xchara & tony
Interesting and funny
Fun light hearted hub!
You say it... I am German and I know what you mean. I said something like that in my speakwrite and doublethink-hub.
loved your articles too. Thank You.
As a retired English teacher, I can certainly relate!
LOL, English can be a crazy language sometime.
I loved this hub it is very funny you have done a great job pointing out the oddities of the English language.
I loved this hub. Everything you said is so true.
fun and interesting hub.
Great hub. Thoroughly entertaining. I am American and had Spanish friends that had a difficult time learning it. Now its my turn as I try to learn some Tagolog and Cebuano.
William F. Torpey says:
2 months ago
Well done, blbhhdcn. The English language is often inexplicable. I'd hate to have to learn it from scratch if I weren't a native (American.) When I'm driving my car I never know whether I should slow up or slow down when I see a red traffic light.