English ain't easy

[Winston]

More than two examples to show, too.

Read rhymes with lead, and read rhymes with lead, but read and lead don’t rhyme, and neither do read and lead.

This sentence is completely true since both pronunciations of "read" and "lead" rhyme with each other. It's confusing to read, but makes sense when spoken aloud.

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

Yes, this is a grammatically correct sentence. Since the word "buffalo" is an animal, a city, and a verb in English, this statement is about a bullying war between bison from New York and the buffalo that they pick on.

A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed.

With nine possible pronunciations, the "ough" letter combination is probably one of the most versatile in the English language. The sentence illustrates that by making use of every one of them!

A woman without her man is nothing.

Punctuation is so important, and this sentence really proves that. In a study, men and women were given this sentence and asked to correctly puncuate it. Most men made it "A woman, without her man, is nothing."

However, most women turned it into "A woman: without her, man is nothing."

I never said she stole my money.

This sentence may not seem bizarre at first, but the statement takes on seven comletely different meanings depending on which word is emphasized.

 

[K'Tesh]

In pinyin it's shown as:

shi2 shi4 shi1 shi4 shi1 shi4 shi4 shi1. shi4 shi2 shi2 shi1. shi4 shi2 shi2 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi1 shi2 shi2. shi4 shi2 shi1 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi2. shi4 shi1 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi2 shi1. shi4 shi3 shi4 shi3 shi4 shi2 shi1 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi2 shi4 shi2 shi1shi1. shi4 shi2 shi4 shi2 shi4 shi1. shi4 shi3 shi4 shi4 shi2 shi4 shi2 shi4 shi4. shi4 shi3 shi4 shi2 shi4 shi2 shi1 shi1 shi2 shi2. shi3 shi4 shi3 shi2 shi1 shi1 shi2 shi2 shi2 shi1 shi1 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi4

[video=youtube;vExjnn_3ep4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vExjnn_3ep4[/video]

 

[Winston]

In pinyin it's shown as:

shi2 shi4 shi1 shi4 shi1 shi4 shi4 shi1. shi4 shi2 shi2 shi1. shi4 shi2 shi2 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi1 shi2 shi2. shi4 shi2 shi1 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi2. shi4 shi1 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi2 shi1. shi4 shi3 shi4 shi3 shi4 shi2 shi1 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi2 shi4 shi2 shi1shi1. shi4 shi2 shi4 shi2 shi4 shi1. shi4 shi3 shi4 shi4 shi2 shi4 shi2 shi4 shi4. shi4 shi3 shi4 shi2 shi4 shi2 shi1 shi1 shi2 shi2. shi3 shi4 shi3 shi2 shi1 shi1 shi2 shi2 shi2 shi1 shi1 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi4

I'd never dream of even trying. I post these English difficulty posts because I hate it when I hear people criticize or make fun of imperfect English speakers or writers on-line or elsewhere.

EDIT: In such cases, I want to say something like, "Really? How much of his (or her) language do YOU know?" but that would only lead to useless Internet p*****g contests. While overseas, I sometimes had someone apologize for their English to which I'd say something like, "I understand what you are saying, so your English is fine, and I apologize for not knowing YOUR language."

 

[boomtube-mk2]

When it comes to English grammar and spelling; for every rule there are three exceptions and for every exception there are three rules.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

In pinyin it's shown as:

shi2 shi4 shi1 shi4 shi1 shi4 shi4 shi1. shi4 shi2 shi2 shi1. shi4 shi2 shi2 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi1 shi2 shi2. shi4 shi2 shi1 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi2. shi4 shi1 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi2 shi1. shi4 shi3 shi4 shi3 shi4 shi2 shi1 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi2 shi4 shi2 shi1shi1. shi4 shi2 shi4 shi2 shi4 shi1. shi4 shi3 shi4 shi4 shi2 shi4 shi2 shi4 shi4. shi4 shi3 shi4 shi2 shi4 shi2 shi1 shi1 shi2 shi2. shi3 shi4 shi3 shi2 shi1 shi1 shi2 shi2 shi2 shi1 shi1 shi4 shi4 shi4 shi4

It looks like someone describing what they said when they dropped a bowling ball on their toe, but trying evade the forum's profanity rules.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

The banner ad I'm seeing on the page right now is for English lessons.

 

[K'Tesh]

It looks like someone describing what they said when they dropped a bowling ball on their toe, but trying evade the forum's profanity rules.

Thanks for the laugh Eric!!! :roll::roll::roll:

 

[LW Bercini]

An Italian friend of mine says that the homonyms and homophones were not the biggest challenge in learning English. She said the worst was our way of using the verb "get" with an adverb ("get up", "get over", etc.) which have subtle changes in meaning depending on the adverb, and certain combinations only apply in certain situations, e.g., one gets in a car, but one gets on a bus.

 

[K'Tesh]

One thing that I plan on teaching my students when it comes to the difference between in/on (e.g.: getting in a car or on a bus), is the size of the vehicle, unless you ride externally (on a bicycle/on a motorcycle/etc.). "In" tends to be used with smaller things, where as "on" is used for larger things.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

I wonder what non-English speakers visualize when they hear "get over yourself."

 

[LW Bercini]

One thing that I plan on teaching my students when it comes to the difference between in/on (e.g.: getting in a car or on a bus), is the size of the vehicle, unless you ride externally (on a bicycle/on a motorcycle/etc.). "In" tends to be used with smaller things, where as "on" is used for larger things.

Except....

One can get on a car, which means something different than getting in a car.

And depending on the exact context, one can get in a boat or on a boat. One gets on a raft, but in a rowboat, even though the rowboat is larger than the raft.

This is all to make the point that these language constructions are totally baffling for people learning English.

 

[adrian]

It becomes even more amusing when you consider American English vs. English English. Or, for that matter, other variants.

Imagine an American in London complaining about a vacuum cleaner which has not performed as well as he expected.
"This Hoover sucks!"
"Yes sir, that is what it is supposed to do."

So you're at the football match (which can lead to a whole discussion of its own) and you're rooting for your team. In Australia, that has a whole different meaning.

Meanwhile, back in the UK, I had told our club in advance of a flying session that I was going to blow up a rocket. And I did. It didn't break any laws or safety codes because, much to the disappointment of one young lad who was expecting pyrotechnics, the rocket in question was the Dude.

 

[Winston]

It becomes even more amusing when you consider American English vs. English English. Or, for that matter, other variants.

Imagine an American in London complaining about a vacuum cleaner which has not performed as well as he expected.
"This Hoover sucks!"
"Yes sir, that is what it is supposed to do."

So you're at the football match (which can lead to a whole discussion of its own) and you're rooting for your team. In Australia, that has a whole different meaning.

Meanwhile, back in the UK, I had told our club in advance of a flying session that I was going to blow up a rocket. And I did. It didn't break any laws or safety codes because, much to the disappointment of one young lad who was expecting pyrotechnics, the rocket in question was the Dude.

A couple of dangerous potential miscommunications, don't recall where I heard them. May have been in the cultural orientation stuff I got before being sent to the UK: "Knock me up in the morning" doesn't mean what it might be interpreted to mean in the US and definitely do not threaten your child while in public with, "Be quiet or I'll spank your fanny."

 

[Sooner Boomer]

This should help:

https://www.exclassics.com/espoke/espkpdf.pdf

 

[Woody's Workshop]

Just another Bucken Fuffalo to me.

 

[grouch]

Except....

One can get on a car, which means something different than getting in a car.

This is all to make the point that these language constructions are totally baffling for people learning English.

You can also get it on on a car and get it on in a car. Generally not at the same time unless you have a sun roof or are extremely flexible.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

You can also get it on on a car and get it on in a car. Generally not at the same time unless you have a sun roof or are extremely flexible.

Just be aware that if you get it on on your car, you might get it on your car and need a car wash to get if off your car. Ewww.

 

[LW Bercini]

Just be aware that if you get it on on your car, you might get it on your car and need a car wash to get if off your car. Ewww.

And if you are sun bathing nude on your car, what does it mean when your girlfriend tells you to get off?

 

[K'Tesh]

I think this thread has now officially gotten off track.

 

[JERRYR708]

It looks like someone describing what they said when they dropped a bowling ball on their toe, but trying evade the forum's profanity rules.

It looks like somebody is trying to cover the whole US map with Chinese.

 

[K'Tesh]

It looks like somebody is trying to cover the whole US map with Chinese.

真的嗎？