English is Weird (english lesson No 3)
English is Weird (english lesson No 3) belongs to the following groups:
All Things Poetic, Artistic, PhilosophicalWhy if the plural of Box is boxes
is not the plural of ox, oxes rather than oxen?
One goose – two geese
One mouse – two meece – make that mice!!!
English, although my so called first language, is bloody weird.
And that doesn’t even take into consideration the fact that words change their meaning or that professional journalists, i.e. radio & TV presenters refuse to correctly pronounce words… e.g. vulnerable is mostly pronounced vunerable NO NO NO there is an l in there. Another pet hate is the phrase “reflect back”... Doh, if one is reflecting on something one MUST be recalling, thinking back etc. etc. don’t they, whomever they are, teach grammar to them studying journalism?
helmutk
No wonder I get confused
Maximus replied
you too hey… on ya mate. :)
Courtney Goddard
Hey max – when i was studying Japanese I complained endlessly about their language and how it was all backwards – until i made some Japanese friends who explained that our language exceeds difficulty. i.e. their, there, they’re, where, we’re, were, wear, two, too, to. We use the same word for different things but spell it identically. (I cant think of an obvious example here but i am sure it will come to me after this post!). I think i made my point ;) And when i studied Journalism one core subject was actually grammar and editing! When i am reading other people’s writing i cannot help but cringe at grammatical errors. I am sure this post has many! haha.
Maximus replied
Yep, it’s always different when you don’t wear the hat. If I were younger I think I may well go off and study journalism, only from the point that I would like to be a writer. appreciate your comment as always. :)
Courtney Goddard
It sure is…...You dont need to study to become a writer Max! You have all that you need. Good Luck :)
Maximus replied
You think
i could give it a go? seriously. :)
Courtney Goddard
Seriously! I studied writing for over four years! I have a degree in the Creative Arts (writing) and I have a Masters Degree in Journalism – and i havent written a THING since i finished. I have found photography. I am passionate about it more than anything i have done before. I dont think i need to go back to Uni to study it though. Your life experience is worth ten times more than a piece of paper i have hanging on my wall – it is evident from your work on the bubble that you already have an audience!! Start writing! Anything else you want to ask me just Bmail me – i dont want to take up the entire thread space! haha :) x
YELLOWJACKET
HEY MAX, YA’LL SHOULD ADD THE ENGLISH IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD. NO WONDER I CAN’T TALK AND CHEW AT THE SAME TIME!!!
Maximus replied
as long as you can do both separately that’s cool Paul. :)
YELLOWJACKET
FUNNY MAN MAX, YOU’RE A FUNNY MAN!!!!
Maximus replied
Is that funny peculiar Paul or funny ha ha? Oh it’s OK I know the answer. :)
Kofoed
I love your English lessons, Max. Keep them coming. Your frustrations is shared. There’s always some silly saying going on here as well.
How about “open up”? Pretty obvious, when you open someting you don’t need “up”, do you?
Or the latest trend here. We seem to have exchanged the word “very” with “really” here. Now everything is really, really good, really, really bad etc.
Weird, isn’t it? These sayings are usually started by some TV-journalist!!!!
Maximus replied
Keld, my wife’s pet hate is TV sports commentators who are not known for their language skills, all manner of crap flows forth, like.. he’s going to repeat that again. Oh Doh. I’m sure every language has its rules and strange things…my Swedish friend thought it was funny when I answered him one day with bra, instead of saying good. He laughed so hard & finally told me that when his US wife was learning Swedish she just couldn’t bring herself to say it… tee hee :)
Virginia McGowan
:-)