The English Language - the things that you find odd

[Mai72]

What about talking Jersey slang?

We say...

"Youse guys"

"What youse doing?"

"Youse talking to me?"

 

[Mai72]

You can make any new noun or verb up as you go or by adding "-ing".

English rocks... No stupid male/female nouns like French, Spanish, and other languages. No "ustedes" or "vous" form of "you. "I work" and "He works", but no "trabajo" or "trabaja". No weird accents. And best of all, you can sort of pronounce things by sounding them out unlike East Asian languages.

...Chinese is so much damn easier without the conjugation and any sort of adjective/adverb agreement though. Too bad the writing system, even the Romanization system using accents, is effed up.

I'm thinking of going to teach English in China. Dead end "career", but meh.

You can save a boatload of money if you do it right. I saved quite a good deal when I taught in South Korea for 2 years. My friend was able to save $15k in one year.

 

[Phoenix86]

also yinz

Y'all >>>>>>> youse >>> yinz.

 

[Lepton87]

What I find strange and annoying compared to my native language is that the sex of the writer is not easily apparent. In my language the first verb used by the writer is enough to determine the sex. Declination might make the language more complex but it also gives some information especially in writing.

 

[justoh]

Eminem lyrics are fun. Don't try to fix me. I'm broke, so I don't work. So are you, but you're broke, cause you don't work.

 

[brianmanahan]

i hate that english is not expressible as a nondeterministic finite automaton

 

[Snock514]

"James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher" or “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.”

 

[HumblePie]

try looking up how many ways to pronounce different words with the letters "ough" in English. You'll be shocked.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

"James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher" or “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.”

The first is useless without context.
The second is an example of American stupidity. Not English stupidity.

 

[brianmanahan]

The first is useless without context.
The second is an example of American stupidity. Not English stupidity.

english stupidity is putting u in words like honour and flavour

 

[CPA]

The word - ilk. I find it curious, fascinating, odd, and arousing all at the same time.

I feel dirty when I say it.

I say it a lot.

 

[Squisher]

I just used ilk last week. Rather than say the medical community I said Pliablemoose and his ilk.

 

[BoomerD]

I just used ilk last week. Rather than say the medical community I said Pliablemoose and his ilk.

The moose is about as ilky as it gets...

 

[Lepton87]

english stupidity is putting u in words like honour and flavour

You mean British. Oh you reminded me about another thing that I find not optimal in English. English spelling is completely non phonetic so you need to know two words not one, the spoken one and the written one, what a mess. Contrary to that my native language is almost entirely phonetic except for some non-essential things like writing a word with h or ch or u or o with a slash above it. It doesn't impede understanding in the least bit but it lets you know who is educated and who is a moron so it serves a role.

 

[who?]

Something can fall over or it can tump over. Something either fell over or it tumped over.

 

[silicon]

The english language excels in being adaptable and flexible. many non speakers can quickly get the fundamentals and make themselves understood with only a few words. There is no gender in the language to mess with, i.e. a table or a window is neither masculine or feminine, it just is. The language of aviation and science it leaves other languages in the dust. It has the ability to allow users to express complicated concepts easily whereas any romance language just chokes. I expect the english language will prevail over other inferior languages for many years to come.

 

[Perknose]

My favorite are the words that have two meanings... two OPPOSITE meanings. Like "cleave" and "sanction".

Wow, absolutely the best post in this thread. :thumbsup:

 

[Perknose]

island isn't pronounced is-land

Because it comes from isle, which also isn't pronounced "is-lee."

 

[Perknose]

try looking up how many ways to pronounce different words with the letters "ough" in English. You'll be shocked.

Ha! My buddy Durwood Brough's last name is pronouced "bro." So his sons had Broughs Before Ho's t-shirts made. For some years, his live-in SO's last name was Hough, pronounced "huff." She had an English brother who came over named Jack.

Imagine his surprise telling Americans his name. :biggrin:

 

[lxskllr]

I don't like the ambiguity of the word "free". It means "without cost", and "without limitation".

 

[Perknose]

english stupidity is putting u in words like honour and flavour

They pronounce clerks "clarks," but they don't pronounce jerks "jarks."

However, they do look down on us because, as Eddie Izzard put it, they pronounce herb "herb" because it has a fucking 'h' in it.

 

[olds]

I find the expression "all but..." really annoying. For example "She is all butt generous".

It means she likes anal.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

english stupidity is putting u in words like honour and flavour

And "hella" something isn't?

Oh, wait. That's right. It's AMERICAN.

 

[Anubis]

pointless letters

like the k in knife

 

[Perknose]

pointless letters

like the k in knife

Ok knose!