The eccentricities of the English language

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A bit of lighthearted fun to start the year

Ever wonder why non English speakers struggle so much with learning English, here's a few things to consider

  • Flammable and inflammable mean the same thing
  • Fat chance and slim chance mean the same thing
  • Overlook and oversee are opposites
  • Calling someone a wise man is a compliment but calling him a wise guy is an insult
  • Cleave can mean both split apart and stick together
  • Slow down and slow up mean the same thing
  • When told to drink up we will down our drink
  • We recite at a play but play at a recital
  • The plural of goose is geese, why isn't the plural of moose meese?
  • The plural of mouse is mice and louse is lice, why isn't the plural of house hice?
  • The plural of sheep is sheep
  • We say something is "out of whack" when it's broken, why don't we say it is "in whack" when it's fixed?

Feel free to add any you can think of
Quote: neilithic
  • We say something is "out of whack" when it's broken, why don't we say it is "in whack" when it's fixed?
Come to think of it, why do we say "out of" but never "in of"
"I could care less" means you don't care.
Quote: ZuluRaptorSpace"I could care less" means you don't care.
The expression is actually "I couldn't care less"

Heres one though: We drive on a parkway but park in a driveway!
Quote: cncote10
Quote: ZuluRaptorSpace"I could care less" means you don't care.
The expression is actually "I couldn't care less"
It's both, actually.
The rubbish tip was so full they had to refuse any more refuse

we had to polish the Polish furniture
I don't think flammable and inflammable mean the same thing. Flammable is something that can catch on fire and inflammable is something that cannot catch on fire. At least that is how I have ever seen it used as. Another thing to consider is the difference in slang between different countries. For example in Canada most people refer to the British pound just as a pound but in the UK it is often referred to as as quid.
Nope, inflammable means it easily catches on fire, look it up in a dictionary.
That makes no sense. Well myself nor anyone I have ever talked to has used the correct definition. Learn something new everyday.
Quote: elvis123That makes no sense.
LOL that's why this thread is called "the eccentricities of the English language"

here's another one.  I'm going to present him with a present
I want to desert this desert as soon as I can.
Apparently, Down south there's a place called Reading reading library
Down south, eh?
Alabamian here.
Gormless (lacking intellectual abity) but there is no so word as 'gorm'
o The bandage was wound around the wound.
o The farm was used to produce produce.
o The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
o We must polish the Polish furniture.
o He could lead if he would get the lead out.
o The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
o Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
o At the Army base, a bass was painted on the head of a bass drum.
o When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
o I did not object to the object.
o The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
o There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
o They were too close to the door to close it.
o The buck does funny things when the does are present.
o A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
o To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
o The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
o After a number of Novocain injections, my jaw got number.
o Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
o I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
o How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
o I spent last evening evening out a pile of dirt.
Quote: ZuluRaptorSpace
Quote: cncote10
Quote: ZuluRaptorSpace"I could care less" means you don't care.
The expression is actually "I couldn't care less"
It's both, actually.
No its definitely only I couldn't care less...people misuse the expression all of the time.
Stressed spelled backwards is desserts.....actually that one kinda works, when I'm stressed desserts tend to help.
Down south is heading for London. sorry, I just assume most people know I'm English.  For anyone that may not have understood my last post there's a place called Reading (spoken redding) Reading(I.e. reading a book) spelled the same !
"War does not determine who is right - only who is left"
Fallout 3, computer game  B)
"Od Kulina Bana i dobrijeh dana"

"A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing."    Oscar Wilde
Firstly, there is many such things in all languages, hence is why fluency in any is a lot of work.

Many words have several meanings in dictionaries, let alone slang which in different parts of world can mean totally different things.  
I think thats why its said that u dont talk language fluently until you can really understand all the jokes and humor in it.

I have seen both "inflammable" and "flammable" on aerosol cans and yes, even though it makes no sense it means same thing.

I don't know how many of you have seen British "Carry on" movies ("Carry on, teacher", "Carry on camping", "Carry on abroad" etc) but they really are the great examples of dialogues where meanings and double meanings are totally mixed up in funny situations.
here's a couple more along the lines of Jimpop's post

you can be depraved and deprived but we can't be praved or prived
Quote: Mark240590I just assume most people know I'm English.
Only if you were born before the Acts of Union.
I shot an elephant in my pajamas.
This is because:
Was it wearing the pajamas, or was I (if applicable)?
Was it hiding in the pajamas, or was I (if applicable)?
Did I shoot the elephant with a rifle?
Did I shoot the elephant with a camera?
The workmen are building a building.
why do builders build, hunters hunt, but grocers don't groc
Quote: KartWayFirstly, there is many such things in all languages, hence is why fluency in any is a lot of work.

Many words have several meanings in dictionaries, let alone slang which in different parts of world can mean totally different things.  
I think thats why its said that u dont talk language fluently until you can really understand all the jokes and humor in it.

I have seen both "inflammable" and "flammable" on aerosol cans and yes, even though it makes no sense it means same thing.

I don't know how many of you have seen British "Carry on" movies ("Carry on, teacher", "Carry on camping", "Carry on abroad" etc) but they really are the great examples of dialogues where meanings and double meanings are totally mixed up in funny situations.
Sid James is my role model and I still dream of Barbara Windsor. Carry on up the Khyber was the best of them all.
Non illegitimis carborundum est.  Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!  
Heh, I remember carry on up the Khyber.  I used to watch them as a teen when my parents were watching them.  I'm guessing that if I watched them now that I'm a bit more worldly I would get a whole lot more of the jokes.
In Swedish "fan" is a name for the devil, although not pronounced as in English.
We also borrowed the word "fan" from English, fan as in "he's a fan of..." that is.
While we're on the subject of eccentricities of the English language, can anyone tell me how many different pronunciations there are for the letters "ough"?
Just because you can't see it ... doesn't mean it isn't there - Anon.

Coin catalogue referee for England, United Kingdom & pre-Union South Africa.
Banknote catalogue referee for England & United Kingdom.
Plough through the tough dough. 4? I'm thinking that there is probably a 5th somewhere but one could argue that it is an unusual morpheme that you could say was a blend of one regular phoneme and two irregular letter strings.  :wiz:
Or the way my mind said it. (Which is hard for me to spell out the pronunciation.)
then you get things like Read where the future and past tense are spelled the same but pronounced differently.  I am going to read a book.  I have read the book.
drive on a parkway and park on a driveway
Quote: radrick007how many different pronunciations there are for the letters "ough"?
Don't know about pronociation as some of the words I've never seen…   B.

But here's a list of the words ending "ought"    (8  (8  (8

although, anough, aswough, athrough, betrough, borough, bough, breakthrough, breastplough, brough, butterbough, chincough, chough, clough, cough, dough, enough, enrough, entrough, farborough, feedthrough, fireplough, floorthrough, forethough, frough, furlough, grough, harborough, harbrough, headborough, herbrough, hiccough, hough, interborough, jough, kinkcough, lough, ough, outborough, outthrough, overrough, pentrough, plough, prefurlough, replough, rough, scarborough, shough, skeough, slough, snowplough, sough, sourdough, superthorough, swough, therethrough, thirdborough, thorough, though, through, tough, triborough, trough, turlough, turnplough, unborough, underbough, unplough, unrough, unthorough, untough, upplough, washtrough, wherethrough, wough, yarborough
? Format  Format  Format ?   ?
Do not argue with ignorant people .. !! They will drag you down to their level, then pulverize you with experience ...
Quote: bam777Plough through the tough dough. 4? I'm thinking that there is probably a 5th somewhere but one could argue that it is an unusual morpheme that you could say was a blend of one regular phoneme and two irregular letter strings.  :wiz:
You're on the right lines, Ben, but there are several more. Think about a couple of different noises that you make through your mouth ...
Just because you can't see it ... doesn't mean it isn't there - Anon.

Coin catalogue referee for England, United Kingdom & pre-Union South Africa.
Banknote catalogue referee for England & United Kingdom.
Yeah, I think it is probably about 7.
Why are they still called "buildings" when they are done building them?
My interweb site: http://www.dknyte.com
"Kill yourself" means to die and also suicide.
 English is a language and refer to the people in the UK. But if you speak English you don't have to be English
 Should say refer to the people of England, not the UK
It is, what it is, or is it.
Quote: ALLRED1950English is a language and refer to the people in the UK. But if you speak English you don't have to be English
I have a feeling there are Scots, Irish and Welsh who would not agree on English referring to the people in the UK.
I had a discussion once with a Scotsman. He was definitely not by his own definition English, neither was he British. He was Scottish, and perhaps also United Kingdomese although he would have preferred not to be.  :)
yes you are right i know i would here about that one. Should of said Refer to some of the people in the UK
It is, what it is, or is it.
But it's wrong, because England no longer exists.
Quote: ZuluRaptorSpaceBut it's wrong, because England no longer exists.
No...

As far as I understand it, England is a constituent nation of the U.K. and is not represented by itself in supernational organizations (UN, EU etc.), but it is still a "nation" in itself and is represented in European sporting events and the like, along with having its own British pound notes. I am a bit of a geography nerd and the quiz website I use has constant, rollicking debates about this (i.e. "Name all the countries that begin with E": "Where's England?!"), so I have picked up the fact that England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are in an awkward realm above a province but below a complete "country". Another skill I've learned is spelling "Kyrgyzstan" right on the first try.
You keep digging holes!
Quote: ZuluRaptorSpaceBut it's wrong, because England no longer exists.
I would check your facts before you post such a bold statement, young man. I am English, I live in England, I speak the Queen's English and I put England at the end of my address when I ask swappers to send me coins. As nalaberong rightly says, England is a constituent part of the United Kingdom, along with Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland.
Just because you can't see it ... doesn't mean it isn't there - Anon.

Coin catalogue referee for England, United Kingdom & pre-Union South Africa.
Banknote catalogue referee for England & United Kingdom.
It isn't a bold statement it is ignorant. Nothing more.
sorry everyone , i was just going with the ball of " eccentricites of english" Please for gave me, i thought this may go down hill
It is, what it is, or is it.
Hey i make a record put my foot in my mouth in 5 different countrys, With my spelling and thoughts. 8.
It is, what it is, or is it.
No, you didn't. You're fine. Our young learned friend has made the gaff!
Sorry neilithic i think i just killed your topic, It 's a good one too
           yours daryl
It is, what it is, or is it.
Here's another: hanged and hung.
"I hung the robe."
"The burgular was hanged."

And, of course: "My buddies are hung over."
Kenny

- Verifying your Asian and British-territorial coins everyday with the best quality photos and the best information.

Check out my Facebook, Kenneth Gucyski.
Quote: bam777It isn't a bold statement it is ignorant. Nothing more.
If events continue on their current trajectory he will be absolutely correct in about ten years.

I didn't recognize the England I grew up in by the time I left. I'm fairly certain that things are a lot worse 13 years later.
Non illegitimis carborundum est.  Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!  
The one that gets me are there are words that are spelled the same but pronounced differently (i.e. read and read), but then there are also words that are pronounced the same but spelled differenty (there, their, they're)
Disme is pronounced "deem" but to deem something is to declare it.
Quote: bam777It isn't a bold statement it is ignorant. Nothing more.
I was trying to go easy on the young lad because I don't believe his ignorance is his fault - I lay the blame firmly at the feet of the education system that failed him and is continuing to fail millions of others like him.
Just because you can't see it ... doesn't mean it isn't there - Anon.

Coin catalogue referee for England, United Kingdom & pre-Union South Africa.
Banknote catalogue referee for England & United Kingdom.
Ouch.
If there is one thing one needs to learn it is not to be borderline disrespectful/ignorant about  someone elses country, heritage, history, language, nation or belonging and therefore to come out saying something that can get you into trouble.

P.S. In topic. The sayings such as "Once in a blue moon" or cult sayings that come from movies or just quotes such as "show must go on" are also something that language has that might be hard to learn for people whos first language wasnt english. Lots of pitfalls, hehe.

  
 Rick what education system, It more of a badysitting now. I know my spelling is really bad,but i know what abook is.And have read them, and still enjoy reading them. Even ones with no pic. :8D
It is, what it is, or is it.
Im sorry but thats just slightly P1zzed me off ! i am English. I was Born in England, I live here It is a completely separate country and the only one that doesnt speak Gealic (spelling)
It is Very Ignorant and im starting to lose my patience with some who seem keen to be-little and get one up at any oppertunity.
Mark240590 iam deeply sorry if your are mad at something i said or started in motion
             yours daryl
It is, what it is, or is it.
I get Zulu's view though.  Technically The United Kingdom is the country yes?  That would make England more or less a state within the UK.  It's not that it doesn't exist, it's just a matter of what it's called.  And it's all determinate of which article you read or who you talk to.

And I enjoy a good dumb joke:
Two birds are on a perch, one turns to the other and asks "You smell fish?"
or
Two fish are in a tank, one turns to the other and asks "You know how to drive and fire this thing?"
"What we are is not as important as what we aren't"
Glorkar, youre wrong.. it is a country, the United kingdom of Great Britain is just that a United KINGDOM united by 1 crown.  All 4 countries still retain their national identities.
Back to the OP, if a french person can add his two pence :

To the question : "is there anything worn under your kilt ?"
Will you answer  : "yes" (i.e. I do wear an underwear (which is funny in itself) (if any...))
or : "no !" (i.e. everything is OK, thank you....)

 X-D
Le site des monnaies de la Dombes
My 2 cents, England has a national anthem and a flag, they are a country.  If they were't the 6 nations rugby tournament would be pretty boring.
Well, the real definition is much harder to pin down.

There is an English people and an English language and an English culture - so this makes an English nation.

But there is also a Quebecois nation, a Kurdish nation, etc., and so a "nation" doesn't mean that there is an internationally recognized "country" to back it up. Breakaways like Transinistria, Abkhazia, and Nagorno-Karabakh make this an even more confusing proposition.

England was once a completely distinct country, but it is now united with three others, forming a United Kingdom - the most comparable and recent situation would probably be the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Austria and Hungary both existed as nations during this time (as did some other territories like the Czech Republic), and we can see their different coin designs in the Numista catalog, but internationally the whole mess was just "The Austro-Hungarian Empire" - despite retaining different languages and cultures in its fairly autonomous and independent regions, it was all united under one crown. I am not exactly sure how much power each individual part of the United Kingdom has in this day and age, but they are definitely much more distinct and powerful than each state of the United States of America.

So everyone's beef here is the statement "England no longer exists", because this is completely untrue by all interpretations. The geographic England is still above water, the English people still speak English, there is an English football team, and all the rest. It's like saying "Texas does not exist", except much worse, because there was never an independent Texan Yokel Nation with a strong Yokel Culture before the United States claimed it. England's actual role in international affairs today is more debatable (the U.K. has a seat at the U.N. and is an E.U. member, the four constituent kingdoms have none of these things by themselves), and this is where there is some confusion (let me know if I'm wrong on any of this, us Canadians love you guys but the fine details aren't taught in high school), but as far as existence is concerned, England does exist...

And it's not racist because I'm 1/8th English. So there.
The Republic of Texas was actual a country for 10 years back in the 1800's.  After it became part of the US, it was not longer considered a nation, it was simple a state.  But for those 10 years, it did exist.
"What we are is not as important as what we aren't"
You mean the "Lone Star Republic"?

Texas was an actual country for about 10 years, which struggled as a nation-builder. Within those 10 years Texas went through a period of ethnic cleansing, banning free slaves and purging Native Americans under Mirabeau Lamar's administration.

California was a "republic" too, but for only for about a month.
Kenny

- Verifying your Asian and British-territorial coins everyday with the best quality photos and the best information.

Check out my Facebook, Kenneth Gucyski.
There we go, I've successfully moved the thread from British history to American history! All according to plan (8

But really, I didn't know any of this stuff about Texas (although I had an inkling it was independent at one point - just not for very long). The Canadian curriculum is fairly contemptuous of American history - the significance of the Civil War was that it let us get our act together and form a Confederation while the United States were too pre-occupied to care that the colonies up north were becoming one large non-threat rather than many small non-threats :°
My apologies to neilithic.

Return to the topic.
Does anyone here know what now-US state was the original lone star republic?
Quote: ZuluRaptorSpaceDoes anyone here know what now-US state was the original lone star republic?

Original Lone Star Republic 1810

In 1810 residents of Louisiana's Florida Parishes rose in an armed insurrection and overthrew the Spanish government.

The Independent Republic of West Florida existed for 74 days before being forcibly annexed by American forces on December 10, 1810.
? Format  Format  Format ?   ?
Do not argue with ignorant people .. !! They will drag you down to their level, then pulverize you with experience ...
"Throwing up" - yea, it does come up, but u throw it down.. on ground or whereever.

Angry people say stuff that can sound odd if u start thinking about it.
 Mild stuff i mean.
"sugar!!!"
"bloody hell"
"holy sh*t"
"holy cow"
"holy potatoes"
Why do we have words that are so similar that people always get them mixed up.  inquiry vs enquiry, affect vs effect, who vs whom (does anayone actually know the correct use for whom?)
It is actually the dative form I think.

To whom do you refer?
With whom am I speaking?
To whom the bell tolls
Hell.. I see a lot of people like to type they brought a new coin rather than bought...
True, Mark. i think where tenses of irregular verbs are concerned a lot of people get it wrong.
If someone learns english in school as foreign language, usually irregular verbs table is just asked to be learnt by heart, which is not much fun and i guess lot of people try to skip this part or cheat in test and get it over with haha.
Hence is why mix-ups in irregular verbs and we hear people say stuff like "i brought a coin" i flied to italy" "i becomed famous" "i buyed a bread" "i putted a pen on the table"
Correct! Louisiana.
The mix up with then and than seems to confuse many.
Quote: ZuluRaptorSpaceBut it's wrong, because England no longer exists.
So if England no longer exists, are all the English-speaking countries speaking a dead language? What about the language spoken in the US? :8D
If you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything
Here we speaked amerikan unglush.
Quote: Mark240590Hell.. I see a lot of people like to type they brought a new coin rather than bought...
I never got mixed up with those, I just think bring and brought both start with "br"

The one that gets me is people asking "can I" or "can you" rather than "may I" or "will you"  If someone asks me "can you pass me the salt" I will reply "yes I can" then sit there and do nothing until they ask "will you pass me the salt"
Quote: neilithic...then sit there and do nothing until they ask "will you pass me the salt"
Or would you pass me the salt ?
Le site des monnaies de la Dombes
Quote: nalaberongEngland was once a completely distinct country, but it is now united with three others, forming a United Kingdom - the most comparable and recent situation would probably be the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Austria and Hungary both existed as nations during this time (as did some other territories like the Czech Republic), and we can see their different coin designs in the Numista catalog, but internationally the whole mess was just "The Austro-Hungarian Empire" - despite retaining different languages and cultures in its fairly autonomous and independent regions, it was all united under one crown.
Just to clarify: Austria-Hungary was [unfortunately] only 2 countries under one crown: Austria and Hungary. They had 18 ministries, out of which 3 only were joint: 1) Finance (usually changing Austrian and Hungarian ministers) 2) Defense (by tradition run by an Austrian) 3) Foreign (by tradition run by a Hungarian) the other 15 ministries were doubled locally.
Unfortunately, other nations of the Monarchy (e.g. Czechs,Slovaks, Slovenians, Croats,Polish,Serbs,Ukrainians) were not represented... this caused the failure of the Monarchy, and the significant decrease of the size of both Austria and Hungary after WW1.
Quote: neilithic
Quote: Mark240590Hell.. I see a lot of people like to type they brought a new coin rather than bought...
I never got mixed up with those, I just think bring and brought both start with "br"

The one that gets me is people asking "can I" or "can you" rather than "may I" or "will you"  If someone asks me "can you pass me the salt" I will reply "yes I can" then sit there and do nothing until they ask "will you pass me the salt"
Ok good it isn't just me then!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, my brain freezes because of this!!!!!!  B.
Now English is impossible for me! Thanks a lot!  :O
"For by telling them of many things without teaching them you will make them seem to know much, while for the most part they know nothing"
-Plato
You're from the Netherlands.
Most people speak 3 or 4 languages there.
Here in the US:
1/2 to 1.
Quote: ZuluRaptorSpaceYou're from the Netherlands.
Most people speak 3 or 4 languages there.
Here in the US:
1/2 to 1.
That's true, I can also speak German (a bit) and French, but this topic is really confusing!
"For by telling them of many things without teaching them you will make them seem to know much, while for the most part they know nothing"
-Plato

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