English is strange

[JGK]

As an Englishman "abroad" I have had to develop a "live and let live" attitude as to how the language is used out in the world.

There's often emphasis on different syllables and hugely different pronounciation of words (getting used to the herb described as "Basel" instead of the "Basil" I was used to wasn't easy).

Also the use of totally different words for things takes time to get used to. For example:

Cilantro/Coriander
Eggplant/Aubergine
sidewalk/pavement
trunk/boot
hood/bonnet

but the list is endless.


Also, referring to someone in the room as "he/him" or "she/her" would be considered incredibly rude where I come from but is totally normal elsewhere.

[Jumpshooter]

Tear and tear: She shed a tear when she tore her dress.

[kurtbryd]

Yes English is a strange language. And people have made it stranger!!!! Like British don't pronounce "r". Like "river" becomes "rive-" according to them.
English also have some spelling mystery too. Like Americans use "color" where British use "colour" . And English accent all over the world is different too.

[JGK]

.
English also have some spelling mystery too. Like Americans use "color" where British use "colour" . And English accent all over the world is different too.

Actually, English accents are different all over England too !!

[WK]

There is a Geordie lass on the BBC radio who does traffic reports and I guess she's worked out of London for a few years so her accent goes in and out between Geordie and a kind of Thames accent all the time. Great!
The best are Geordie and West Country.

[tom jupille]

Regional accents are a part of almost any language. In the US, the south has the most readily identifiable (and easiest to caricature) accents. The following may only be intelligible to Americans:

An Alabama state policeman pulled over a car for speeding and asked the driver: "Got an ID?"
To which the driver replied "'Bout what?"

Or the Mississippi preacher who, at Christmastime, checked in on the progress of the nativity scene to find that the three wise men were decked out in fire helmets. When asked why, the parishioner who had been working on it said "Well, Reverend, the Bible says they came from afar!".

[AICMM]

One of my favorites is torch. As in, when the English service rep. came to me while working on a magnetic sector and asked me for one, I thought that was a bit of an extreme solution to a frustrating problem until he pointed out that he needed more light. Ah, you mean a flashlight....

Best regards.

[Uwe Neue]

Here is a classical language joke:

The nose is running and the feet smell...

[tom jupille]

. . . that means you're built upside-down!

[WK]

Lately been trying to learn to speak Indian - "sari" seems to be the hardest word....... (tumbleweed rolling)

[Cmdr Keen]

And not to forget:

- A jeweller sells watches and a jailor watches cells.

- in a world without walls and fences who needs windows and gates?

[PhotonicGuy]

Well, I loved most a short text about how easy is to learn English which I received by e-mail but I cannot find it I will look further I hope to be able to post it fully here, but it’s something like that (and you are supposed to learn it and say it very quickly)

Some switched Swiss witches were buying some Swatch Swiss watches and were switching the switches of their Swiss witch Swatch watches so that they became Swatch Swiss switched witches with switched switches on their Swiss Swatch witch watches.

[Uwe Neue]

The alphabet consists of letters such as a, b, c, d, etc.

When I write a letter, say to a friend, I am using a lot of letters.

So there are many letters in a letter…

Oh well…

[enrique santiago]

I guess the English language is pretty strange. But despite the deeper meanings of expressions, people still get to understand each other no matter how they put it. It's indeed a language to learn, but then again so is all other languages. Try to learn a second language and you'll know what I mean. =)

Enrique Santiago