Let's face it - English is a crazy language

[seraph]

English is a hard language to learn:

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.
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.
1 After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

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 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?

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?
Your house can burn up as it burns down, you fill in a form by filling
it out and an alarm goes off by going on.
You chop down a tree and cut up the wood.
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"
Why do we say something is out of whack? What's a whack?
and one they missed.....
Why do we drive on a PARKWAY, and park in a DRIVEWAY?

[mosc]

How about Italian? I assume there are wacky things about that language too, aren't there? I'm not talking about the people who speak it.

[zynthetix]

Ever wonder why tour isn't pronounced like sour? And why does sour rhyme with tower? The French ruled the British Isles a long time ago (sorry i'm not specific on the date ) and that explains why its such a mutt of a language. The same vowel sound can be spelled multiple ways, one combination of vowels can be pronounced multiple ways, and lets not forget how pronounciation can change entirely with context. (Example: "I read books" vs. "I read a book") Honestly, a language like Spanish seems far superior to English based off the simple concept that each vowel is assigned ONE SOUND and that's it. And if something is pronounced differently, it gets an accent. Easy as that.

Regardless, the English language is a damn mutt and that's why its hard to learn.

btw, anyone ever hear a recording of ancient, original, Germanic English? It sounds more like Klingon than anything else.

[Cyxeris]

My favorite word is rhythm. 5 consonants and one semivowel. Wonder how that one slipped by.

Cyx

[seraph]

well...it's almost Christmas. why this word does not sound similar to Christ?