WHO WOULD HAVE THUNK!!!

carlbob | carlbob/rowdee

[Rowdee]

I really wasn't sure where to post this. It could have been put in Vanities, though I believe it deserves a great amount of coverage.

And while I believe it could have easily fit on the Breaking News or Front Page as something to do with Politics or International Affairs or War, I finally opted for Culture and Society.

One may ask why would she consider this as anything to do with International or Foreign Affairs, and that is a legitimate question.

My answer, plain and simple: Down deep, I believe I've discovered the reason the rest of the world 'hates' us!

Please feel free to add to the lunacy that helps define we Americans!

[xm177e2]

while I believe it could have easily fit on the Breaking News or Front Page

Thank you for NOT putting this in "Breaking News"

[tbeatty]

Someone who didn't speak english natively asked me those two questions. Most languages have a lot more rules than English. Here's is question, and see if they make sense:

1. Difference between "on" and "in". We get "on the bus" but "in the car." Why? What's the rule for "on" vs. "in?"

2. Why do we say our alarm "goes off" when in reality it turns on?

[Rowdee]

A walk on the lighter side??? Happy New Year's to all.

[struwwelpeter]

When I was into German, I had this sentence about some Viennese wash-women that gave me conniptions... Die Wiener Waschweiber wollen weisse waeshche waschen or something like that. Krauts eat Nutella because peanut butter strikes them dumb.

Then there's the Russkies, with Clara stealing Carl's Clarinet Klara u Karla ukrala klarnet... yo-moyo, all the languages are screwed up! HAPPY NEW YEAR!! S NOVYM GODOM!! FROHES NEU JAHR!! WOOP WOOP WOOP!!

[Doctor Stochastic]

We drive on a parkway and park on a driveway.

Ginger, finger, and singer don't rhyme.

[VA Advogado]

How much have you had to drink tonight? You're even more incoherent than usual.

[Rowdee]

You do realize that was 'tongue in cheek', though my tongue is in my mouth! :)

[RichInOC]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I could have sworn that George Carlin did this first.

[Jay W]

Another way of looking at that first list of 21 sentences is how easy English is, since most of the words in all of the sentences are not the least bit confusing. Consider this sentence from the list: Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

In that sentence only the word spelled 'present' could cause confusion. But 14 of the 17 words in that sentence would cause no problem. That's a pretty high ratio.

[xm177e2]

Actually, I didn't realize that :-)

People put the darndest things in "Breaking News"

Because I don't FReep every hour of the day, I miss some of the real breaking news, it gets pushed off the list to make room for stupid stuff.

[Rowdee]

Sourpuss!!

I have taken myself off cold water and cookies and returned to lukewarm water and cookiesbecause of spelling kicking with an 'l' instead of the 'k'.

Did you play Scrooge?

[Husker24]

With all its flaws, Enlish still beats Japanease, hell they have like 2500 letters in their alphabet. I wonder what their keyboards look like.

[Husker24]

English.....sorry folks.

[Cultural Jihad]

And then there's the big issue of why ships carry cargo while trucks carry shipping!

[Rowdee]

I don't know if there are rules to cover these examples! I surely don't remember covering any of them in English Comp or Business Language classes.

When I was in Junior High, I took a multi-languages class...something like 6 weeks on Spanish, 6 on French, 6 on Latin, and 6 or 8 on German. I took to Spanish like a duck to water, I liked Latin but given my goals in life, it would have been quite impractical, wasn't crazy about French, and found the gutteral German too much. The class was offered to students who were unsure of what language class they wanted to take.

[Rowdee]

I didn't like German. Figured Russian wouldn't be easy to learn, nor would Hebrew, I guess.

I'm doing some Greek classes over the computer.

[coloradan]

Generals sleep in private quarters, but privates sleep in general quarters.

If conductors conduct, what do ambassadors do?

[Husker24]

I once looked at my friends German book while I was in highschool and I was amazed that they have a word for about every concievable situation. I dont remember what the word was but it was one word that meant...." Im sorry, youll have to use another phone, this line is busy"....one damn word for that!...geesh!

[tbeatty]

I took spanish in H.S. and luckily didn't need it for college. "en" meant on and in. No rules. I don't know how you explain why you get on the bus and in the car. It's all be sound. Or why the following makes sense: "I turned the alarm off after it went off."