Crazy English.:.

[OzukakiBurasuki]

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This thread is lulz.

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[Slykaz1]

lmao...

I wish I had this for my english teacher...she would have keeled over from laughter.

[Suki]

I just watched this funny video on youtube and thought it'd be fitting for this thread.

George Carlin. Always worth your time. Enough said. Enjoy.

[GinaS]

Interesting thread.

I'm surprised to hear people say that English is easy to learn. I would think it would be very difficult, at least to read and write, because of all the differing pronunciations the same letter combinations can produce, or even just individual letters.

I think this is because English has so many different root languages represented in its words, maybe more than any other language, for all I know. Does any other language have a dictionary the size of the Oxford English Unabridged? That thing weighs in at something like 180 pounds.

There's an old joke about "ghoti" being pronounced as "fish," if you take your cues from the "gh" in "rough," the 'o' in "women," and the "ti" in "nation."

But I think the worst offender is "ough." If you don't know, you can't guess. It can be pronounced as in

through, rhymes with blue,
though, rhymes with glow,
thought, rhymes with hot,
cough, rhymes with scoff,
hiccough, rhymes with cup,
bough, rhymes with how,
rough, rhymes with cuff,
and Yough, rhymes with rock, names of a trail, lake, school district, etc., in Pennsylvania on the Youghiogheny (Yawk-uh-gay-nee) River (from Algonquian).

If that were the only letter combo that was problematic, it'd be one thing, but it's beyond me how people who don't grow up with it ever learn it. My hat's off to y'all.

[nobora]

lol i find this to be funny and yet true. My mom has these problems when writing in english or speaking it and I do too sometimes but its true English is a hard language to learn when your not young.

[NanteNa]

Ahh I love wordplay.. I think wordplay isn't just for the English language.. All languages have their tiny contradictions to them.

[Suki]

Originally Posted by GinaS

I'm surprised to hear people say that English is easy to learn. I would think it would be very difficult, at least to read and write, because of all the differing pronunciations the same letter combinations can produce, or even just individual letters.

It's easier than most languages. English is essentially a very logical language, in terms of grammar and sentence structure. Like faaar easier than any other language I know of.

Pronunciation is the hardest part about it, but you learn it over time. Plus, everyone's used to hearing English in both music and movies/tv, so pronunciation catches on quickly cause you've heard every word before and eventually you learn how to sound it out the right way.

However, you get than in almost every language. At least with vowels.

Originally Posted by GinaS

There's an old joke about "ghoti" being pronounced as "fish," if you take your cues from the "gh" in "rough," the 'o' in "women," and the "ti" in "nation."

But I think the worst offender is "ough." If you don't know, you can't guess. It can be pronounced as in

through, rhymes with blue,
though, rhymes with glow,
thought, rhymes with hot,
cough, rhymes with scoff,
hiccough, rhymes with cup,
bough, rhymes with how,
rough, rhymes with cuff,
and Yough, rhymes with rock, names of a trail, lake, school district, etc., in Pennsylvania on the Youghiogheny (Yawk-uh-gay-nee) River (from Algonquian).

Hahaha awsome!

Yeah, it doesn't make sense whatsoever that one word written in one specific way can be pronounced in two distinct ways, as it's the case with either/neither.

[termogard]

Originally Posted by GinaS

Interesting thread.
I'm surprised to hear people say that English is easy to learn. I would think it would be very difficult, at least to read and write, because of all the differing pronunciations the same letter combinations can produce, or even just individual letters.

Heh, heh
Try to learn, say, Chinese and you will quickly change your opinion

[Rinai]

Hm, hm. This actually reminded me of this paradoxical poem I found a long time ago. I think English is a fun language to communicate in. As far as learning it, I know it's hell for a lot and comes natural for others. There's one guy in my class who learned to get by fluently in three years and there's.... a lot who still have trouble reading out the word 'degeneration'. For me. I just really like how... English can really project a lot of personalities around. {I haven't really studied any other language hardcore as English.}

[Ryzorian]

English utilizes many words from everywhere else. It's more of a mutt lanquage.