English is A Confusing Language

nidzhar · Post time 27-2-2009 05:23 PM

This humourous poem about the the inconsistencies in English grammar and vocabulary has to be one of the most forwarded emails. While it pokes fun at English and the English, the poem also captures the frustrations a student faces in the process of learning English as a foreign or second language. Does anyone have the answer to the question: 揑f you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

idajoe · Post time 27-2-2009 05:43 PM

betul..........................

Al Lebam · Post time 4-3-2009 06:16 PM

memang konpius...
'but' sebutnye 'bat'
tapi 'put'... idak le pulak sebut 'pat'
kalau ikut ejaan... patutnye sebut 'pat' le..

isyyhhh.. konpius... konpius...

cikgutuition · Post time 5-3-2009 12:55 PM

Guys,

Roughly about 80% of English words are from foreign languages such as from Latin, French, Spanish and even our bahasa Melayu..That is why it sometimes can be confusing..

As for the spelling and pronunciation you must know how to use the Phonetic symbols to guide you.. Actually I will be conducting a course on how to use the dictionary in term of the Part of Speech, phonetic and others this Monday in Sunway..

enot66 · Post time 10-6-2009 04:56 PM

hahahahahaha,

wow!!!! thanks for posting it. I don't know if the poem was written for a serious purpose or not, but heck, it made me laugh so hard, my tummy hurt.

ath1288 · Post time 12-6-2009 07:01 PM

betol2.....I'm weak at grammar...fuh selalu bnyk slh

enott · Post time 16-6-2009 07:44 PM

Originally posted by ath1288 at 12-6-2009 19:01
betol2.....I'm weak at grammar...fuh selalu bnyk slh

Are you studying at Hull Uni ke? It is frustratingly hard in trying to improve our grammarkan. I have been helping a few of the pendatang children with their spoken and written english for the last year or so and believe me when I say it has not been very easy at all for them to learn.

So, if you are lucky enough, find some one who is willing to spare a few minutes of their time to help you. chin up, you never know what is waiting for you around the corner.

jeriah_md · Post time 21-6-2009 04:04 PM

where there is a will, there is a way... c'mon everbody... english may be look confusing, but once you try to understand it.. its not as tough as u think... if u are really weak at grammar, try to buy a book of grammar for primary students... there u can find the basic english grammar... once u have developed your english grammar...then u can proceed to the next level...don't shy to try...

gorgonz · Post time 14-7-2009 09:09 AM

Post Last Edit by gorgonz at 14-7-2009 09:15

ni...yg dpt....fwrd emel...

      You think English is easy???
      Read to the end . . . a new twist

      1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
      2) The farm was used to produce produce .
      3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
      4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
      5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

      6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
      7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present .

      8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
      9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
      10) I did not object to the object.
      11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
      12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row .

      13) They were too close to the door to close it....
      14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
      15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

      16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
      17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
      18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear..
      19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
      20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

gorgonz · Post time 14-7-2009 09:18 AM

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France .
Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

      And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth?
One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend?
If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them,
what do you call it?

      If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

      How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

      English was invented by people, not computers,
and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all.
That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.
      PS. - Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick' ?

gorgonz · Post time 14-7-2009 09:21 AM

You lovers of the English language might enjoy this .

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is 'UP.'

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ?

At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ?

Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report ?
We call UP our friends.

And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen.

We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.

At other times the little word has real special meaning.

People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.

To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.

A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.

We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP !

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary.

In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions.

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used.

It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP .

When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP...
When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.
When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP,
so........it is time to shut UP!