Blessed be those who didn't have to go through the trouble of learning the English language. Some might say that learning Japanese or Icelandic might be the most difficult task out there, but even the most complicated aspects of those languages have some kind of logic behind them. English grammar and the language itself, on the other hand, has some truly nonsensical characteristics to it and a plethora of arbitrary rules.
Those with English as their native language never have to consciously work through the kinks of spelling out Wednesday or why writers write, but fingers don't fing and grocers don't groce. Learning English as a secondary language is a real minefield once you figure out the basic grammar rules and step into more specific areas. And these people decided to point some of the most confusing things out there to prove their point. English is a weird language and at times makes no sense whatsoever, especially for a language that is so widespread.
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To be fair, many linguists would easily find a logical answer to most of the problems presented in these messages, as English language has a lot of nuances (like words being borrowed from Latin and Greek, or the fact that some words had their origins lost or they ceased to be used in spoken language). However, that doesn't mean that they still don't fail to confuse people trying to learn the language, as even the most sound explanation might seem nonsensical when the original problem could be solved by, well... changing the language? Ah, let's leave this for the linguists to figure out and non-native speakers to be confused about, right?
It took me a while to remember which one is positive and which one is negative between horriffic and terrfic...
Brits also use 'Quite' in a sarcastic manner if agreeing with someone (who they don't agree with).
Native Arkansan here. There are a lot of explanations (and those different factors aren't wrong - they all contribute some), but I think the best is that the French (and their propensity to silent final -s) played a large role in settling Arkansas, but not Kansas. The name comes from a native (possibly Algonquin or related language) term which would probably be best rendered as "ar Kansah", meaning roughly "land of the people from upsteam" or possibly "the people of the west wind", which would not have been the name the local natives called it (the native Caddo in this area spoke a Sioux dialect, but there are only 110 Caddo left alive and even fewer speak their language) - so a pronounced final -s wouldn't have been appropriate anyway.
A bit off topic, but to me personally, Kansas and Arkansas sound like angel and archangel. So, basically, Arkansas is a high Kansas. *nods smartly* Okay, I'll stop here.
These things are historical. Know Spanish? Why is Amarillo pronounced Amarilllllo rather than Amariyo? History.
The difference in English use of letters & Spanish. Like in Jehovah the J is pronounced as a Y. Yehovah.
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Arkansas was named for the French plural of a Native American tribe, while Kansas is the English spelling of a similar one. Since the letter "s" at the end of French words is usually silent, we pronounce Bill Clinton's home state "Arkansaw." ... Kansas is named for the Kansas River, which is named for the Kansa tribe.
um ... actually the river was named after the kansa.
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OMl when I was younger my friend and I had a lengthy discussion on this lol And yes, I am a native English speaker.
Oh yes. I definitely pronounced Arkansas like Kansas with "Ar" in front of it, when I first came to the U.S. over 20 years ago. To this day, my (American) husband has not let me live it down.
WHAT? I got to 65 without realising that’s why I can never find “Arkensaw “ on any map🤣
And Arkansas City is pronounced like Ar-Kansas...even tho its in Arkansas...
Me, 8 years old in spelling class, pronounces Arkansas as Ar-Kansas. Almost 30 years later, I still have to think about it before I pronounce it.
Arkansas’ name means “many Native American tribes” in French as the French bought that land from Spain. Kansas is the English spelling of a Native American tribe. Thus the different pronunciations.
kansas refers to the kansa tribe, one of the 6 degiha siouan tribes. arkansas is from another d.g. siouan tribe actually called the ogaxpa ( or mutilated by european explorers into quapaw). when fellow explorers were confronted with a tribe called the mahican tribe &, a few hundred miles away, the mohegan tribe they short circuited & claimed they were the same people. one guy, james fennimore cooper, wrote a book called "the last of the mohicans", which had a character called uncas who was actually the first of the mohegan tribe because he & his buddies split off from another tribe in the 1600s.
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What's the difference? They sound the same to me. English is not my first language.
Easiest answer of an involved history: It's a merging of french immigrants trying to write the pronunciation of the native languages of the Kansa and Quapaw tribes, when talking about the land-area & its people(s). When the native languages were written using a roman alphabet, the "S" was added to make the core words plural. This french spelling / word, was then mispronounced by english speakers in government. (this is the simplest way I can find to explain it).
Well, Newark in New Jersey is pronounced like “Newirk” with the first syllable emphasized only slightly and the second almost swallowed so it almost becomes monosyllabic. But Newark in the neighboring state of Delaware is pronounced like “New-ARK” with strong emphasis on “Ark” and making the two syllables distinct. Did this happen because of proximity, to be sure which one someone is talking about? Maybe, but I certainly don’t know for sure.
The Arkansas River, so I've heard, is pronounced "Ar-KAN-sas" and not "AR-kan-saw."
you can get arrested in Arkansas for pronouncing it similar to Kansas
As a foreign language speaker I get away with mispronouncing Arkansas all the time. I say it how it should be pronounced and every time someone corrects me, I say that if you wanted to pronounce that way then then you should write Arkansaw and not Arkansas.
And the bane of my existence. i still hate myself for loudly telling my teacher she was wrong in her pronouncement as there was no w. I still say shes wrong but man I was embarrased af
I thought Arkansas was pronounced phonetically for many years. Luckily, being British, I never had occasion to say it out loud!!
I heard that the Arkansas River that flows through both Kansas and Arkansas is pronounced differently in each state to match the pronunciation of their respective states. That is Ar-Kansas with the final 'S' in Kansas. Arkansaw in Arkansas. Is this true?
They are not from English, but one of the native American languages that we ganged up on and stole words from. Or at least that's the excuse I've heard for those names.
Oh yes!!!!!!!!! I always just want to say ar kansas instead of how it's really pronounced arkensaw!!!
American english advertisement tiesment Enlish english advertisement tesment advertise ties
They are only pronounced differently because the 2nd has Ar in front of it. But the Kansas bit is said the same. Now, if you're in Arkansaw, that's a whole new matter!
I am not 100% sure, but I think it's illegal misspelling Arkansas in the state of Arkansas :)
That’s ok, I was born in america and found it’s better not to think about it.
"...thank the French. Arkansas was named for the French plural (silent final 's') of a Native American tribe, while Kansas is the English spelling of a similar one." -> https://www.businessinsider.com/why-we-pronounce-kansas-and-arkansas-differently-2014-2
The Arkansas River is pronounced completely differently than Arkansas the state. It's a mystery.
It isn't pronounced differently in Arkansas. Where are you?
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And in Kansas, the Arkansas River is pronounced Ar-Kansas, to do so otherwise is asking for a fight!
The name of the land originally occupied by the name of the people split between two different states. The Kansas Indians lived in the Arkansas nation.
American: Let’s break off with English spelling so it makes sense The people: Horrah! America: And lets name two states Kansas and Akansas! The people: Horrah?
one is used by the people of sarcasm and one is used by regular people
There's a broadcasted spelling competition for the Dutch language as well ^^ Dutch is easier though, makes more sense :)
Fridge is a slang shortening of one of the original refrigerators - Fridgidaire...
Same way that the sentence "I never said she stole all my money" takes on a completely different meaning depending upon which particular word you emphasise…
Try saying you'll meet a Continental European at "Half Eight" and see what time he arrives...
I had a non English guest who wanted to see a dentist but all the ones he found were at Dental Practices - he didn't want to be practiced on, he wanted one who knew what they were doing
Why are we like this... I'm English and I still don't understand why we are like this ._.
From what I understand, it has to do with all the conquering that happened way back in the day. The people who eventually became English were very good about incorporating the conquerors' language in with their own, which is why there are so many words (double that of German) and so many nuances. **steps down from podium**
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I've stopped trying to curse in English because once I said "how should we f**k this" instead of "how should we f*****g do this" and I was laughed at, thinking I did it in jest. I didn't. I really thought that was how you curse in English.
No, non-native speakers should cuss frequently:-) It’s funny and it’s interesting because errors lay bare the underlying structure of the language, stuff one doesn’t normally notice if one’s a native speaker
Load More Replies... English is not a language, it’s a perpetrator that takes other languages down dark allies, beats them to a pulp and robs them. 😂
i live in switzerland and it's quite frustrating that for words like "du", "dir", "dich", "Ihr", "Sie", "Ihnen", "euch", which are pronouns, in english you simply translate ALL OF THEM into the word "you"
What gets me is that "I'm gonna see if I can't catch that ball" and "I'm gonna see if I can catch that ball" mean the same thing.
The big problem is that English is a mishmash of other different languages that all have their own rules! You have Greek, Latin, French, Norse & Spanish roots, just to name a few, and they all have their own grammar, etc, as displayed above.
The worst aspect of the English language for writers is the lack of a gender neutral first person singular. Ex: A good employee knows that they have to be on time. NO! employee is singular they is plural Ex. A good employee knows he has to be on time. NO! This assumes the employee is male (unfounded sexism). Ex. A good employee knows that s/he has to bee on time. NO? Acceptable in some circles but still not perfect. Pity the poor writer who has to use English.
Singular 'they' does have a long history and should simply be accepted. There's also 'it' which is the true neutral first person singular. Some people prefer it. I don't, but it is an option.
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It started out as a perfectly good Tuesday, then you people had to grammar all over it
The thing about English is it's a mess but at the same time it's kind of super flexible. So I can generally understand what people mean to say when they make technical errors. That's why people get called out with "You know what I meant." when they correct people. It takes a lot of errors to make a sentence that's completely incomprehensible and it's easy for two people to say the same thing and mean completely opposite things. That's just English.
Being an Englishman I really enjoyed this post, learned something too.
I'll just leave this here: https://www.englishclub.com/esl-articles/199909.htm
I recommend attempting The Chaos by Gerard Nolst Trenite, it really gets you thinking about the English language.
I have a question for the frenchies out there. Why do we translate some places like New Mexico, New Orleans, New England but not New York or New Hampshire? I want to know!!
Some languages borrow words from other languages. English hits other languages over the head in a dark alley and steals all their vocabulary. No wonder English has words spelled according to Greek, Latin, German, French, Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew, and Hindi rules - to name jut a few. "Stephan (greek) and (German) Peter (Latin) saw (german) Satan (Hebrew) flaunting (french) his pyjamas (Himdu) like a maniac (greek) samurai (japanese) jihadi (arabic)." Suspicous, in more ways than one.
Why can I wear a windbreaker -- but I can't say that it breaks wind? (Also, I'm surprised that the contributor found *ONLY* 40 examples...)
There was a photo on Facebook a while ago of a ship shipping shipping ship shipping shipping ships! Say that a few times while drunk 😀
Phonetics is spelt with a "ph." The English language makes no sense!
Mine is the fact that we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway. Also the fact that what we call football uses hands more than feet.
When I was doing my PGDE in post-compulsory adult literacy, we would often share stories about our learners. A classmate of mine was teaching at an ESOL, (English for Speakers of Other Languages), centre and one of her learners approached her and asked why "quite a bit" and "quite a lot" meant the same thing. She explained that the English language was ridiculous.
So many of these people are unnecessarily upset over minor complications and contradictions. How will they face the vagaries of real life?
English is definitely not a hard language to learn in comparison to other languages...but damn does it have quirks.
English is an easy language to learn for rudimentary understanding but to speak British English really well is very difficult as there are too many words that we know mean almost the same thing.....but not quite.
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All of this is because the English language is comprised of multiple other languages and not just one.
Just to mess them up more introduce these English words borrowed from the French language: garçon, café, façade, coup d'état, coup de théâtre, and coup de grâce. The list does go on.
How do I add a post to the thread ?. I have TEN ways to say the letter O. ___________ one ( wu ) . won. ( u). Woman women ( woo / wi ) _______ Go to top. Form. cow. word.
The people that figured these out are are very smart. They have dissected lots of words.
#34 - English might not have a plural form of you, but Aussie/Kiwi do (yous) and so do southern Americans (y'all)!
Australians try very hard not to use yous, it is a horrible sounding word
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In Lincolnshire (UK) Old Boy can mean both a young lad or a very old man :) I love the English language, it keeps everyone on their toes!
OUR QUEER LANGUAGE I THINK YOU ALREADY KNOW OF TOUGH AND BOUGH AND COUGH AND DOUGH OTHERS MAY STUMBLE BUT NOT YOU WITH THOROUGH AND THROUGH WELL DONE ! AND NOW YOU WISH, PERHAPS TO LEARN OF LESS FAMILIAR TRAPS ? BEWARE OF HEARD, A DREADFUL WORD THAT LOOKS LIKE BEARD AND SOUNDS LIKE BIRD. AND DEAD, ITS SAID LIKE BED, NOT BEAD – FOR GOODNESS SAKE DON’T CALL IT DEED ! WATCH OUT FOR MEAT AND GREAT AND THREAT – THEY RHYME WITH SUITE AND STRAIGHT AND DEBT A MOTH IS NOT A MOTH IN MOTHER NOR BOTH IN BOTHER OR IN BROTHER AND HERE IS NOT A MATCH FOR THERE NOR DEAR AND FEAR FOR BEAR AND PEAR AND THERE’S DOSE AND ROSE AND LOSE – JUST LOOK THEM UP – AND GOOSE AND CHOOSE. AND CORK AND WORK AND CARD AND WARD AND FONT AND FRONT AND WORD AND SWORD AND DO AND GO AND THWART AND CART – COME, COME I’VE HARDLY MADE A START ! A DREADFUL LANGUAGE ? MAN ALIVE I’D MASTERED IT WHEN I WAS FIVE !
I had a non English guest who wanted to see a dentist but all the ones he found were at Dental Practices - he didn't want to be practiced on, he wanted one who knew what they were doing
Why are we like this... I'm English and I still don't understand why we are like this ._.
From what I understand, it has to do with all the conquering that happened way back in the day. The people who eventually became English were very good about incorporating the conquerors' language in with their own, which is why there are so many words (double that of German) and so many nuances. **steps down from podium**
Load More Replies... I've stopped trying to curse in English because once I said "how should we f**k this" instead of "how should we f*****g do this" and I was laughed at, thinking I did it in jest. I didn't. I really thought that was how you curse in English.
No, non-native speakers should cuss frequently:-) It’s funny and it’s interesting because errors lay bare the underlying structure of the language, stuff one doesn’t normally notice if one’s a native speaker
Load More Replies... English is not a language, it’s a perpetrator that takes other languages down dark allies, beats them to a pulp and robs them. 😂
i live in switzerland and it's quite frustrating that for words like "du", "dir", "dich", "Ihr", "Sie", "Ihnen", "euch", which are pronouns, in english you simply translate ALL OF THEM into the word "you"
What gets me is that "I'm gonna see if I can't catch that ball" and "I'm gonna see if I can catch that ball" mean the same thing.
The big problem is that English is a mishmash of other different languages that all have their own rules! You have Greek, Latin, French, Norse & Spanish roots, just to name a few, and they all have their own grammar, etc, as displayed above.
The worst aspect of the English language for writers is the lack of a gender neutral first person singular. Ex: A good employee knows that they have to be on time. NO! employee is singular they is plural Ex. A good employee knows he has to be on time. NO! This assumes the employee is male (unfounded sexism). Ex. A good employee knows that s/he has to bee on time. NO? Acceptable in some circles but still not perfect. Pity the poor writer who has to use English.
Singular 'they' does have a long history and should simply be accepted. There's also 'it' which is the true neutral first person singular. Some people prefer it. I don't, but it is an option.
Load More Replies... It started out as a perfectly good Tuesday, then you people had to grammar all over it
The thing about English is it's a mess but at the same time it's kind of super flexible. So I can generally understand what people mean to say when they make technical errors. That's why people get called out with "You know what I meant." when they correct people. It takes a lot of errors to make a sentence that's completely incomprehensible and it's easy for two people to say the same thing and mean completely opposite things. That's just English.
Being an Englishman I really enjoyed this post, learned something too.
I'll just leave this here: https://www.englishclub.com/esl-articles/199909.htm
I recommend attempting The Chaos by Gerard Nolst Trenite, it really gets you thinking about the English language.
I have a question for the frenchies out there. Why do we translate some places like New Mexico, New Orleans, New England but not New York or New Hampshire? I want to know!!
Some languages borrow words from other languages. English hits other languages over the head in a dark alley and steals all their vocabulary. No wonder English has words spelled according to Greek, Latin, German, French, Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew, and Hindi rules - to name jut a few. "Stephan (greek) and (German) Peter (Latin) saw (german) Satan (Hebrew) flaunting (french) his pyjamas (Himdu) like a maniac (greek) samurai (japanese) jihadi (arabic)." Suspicous, in more ways than one.
Why can I wear a windbreaker -- but I can't say that it breaks wind? (Also, I'm surprised that the contributor found *ONLY* 40 examples...)
There was a photo on Facebook a while ago of a ship shipping shipping ship shipping shipping ships! Say that a few times while drunk 😀
Phonetics is spelt with a "ph." The English language makes no sense!
Mine is the fact that we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway. Also the fact that what we call football uses hands more than feet.
When I was doing my PGDE in post-compulsory adult literacy, we would often share stories about our learners. A classmate of mine was teaching at an ESOL, (English for Speakers of Other Languages), centre and one of her learners approached her and asked why "quite a bit" and "quite a lot" meant the same thing. She explained that the English language was ridiculous.
So many of these people are unnecessarily upset over minor complications and contradictions. How will they face the vagaries of real life?
English is definitely not a hard language to learn in comparison to other languages...but damn does it have quirks.
English is an easy language to learn for rudimentary understanding but to speak British English really well is very difficult as there are too many words that we know mean almost the same thing.....but not quite.
Load More Replies... All of this is because the English language is comprised of multiple other languages and not just one.
Just to mess them up more introduce these English words borrowed from the French language: garçon, café, façade, coup d'état, coup de théâtre, and coup de grâce. The list does go on.
How do I add a post to the thread ?. I have TEN ways to say the letter O. ___________ one ( wu ) . won. ( u). Woman women ( woo / wi ) _______ Go to top. Form. cow. word.
The people that figured these out are are very smart. They have dissected lots of words.
#34 - English might not have a plural form of you, but Aussie/Kiwi do (yous) and so do southern Americans (y'all)!
Australians try very hard not to use yous, it is a horrible sounding word
Load More Replies... In Lincolnshire (UK) Old Boy can mean both a young lad or a very old man :) I love the English language, it keeps everyone on their toes!
OUR QUEER LANGUAGE I THINK YOU ALREADY KNOW OF TOUGH AND BOUGH AND COUGH AND DOUGH OTHERS MAY STUMBLE BUT NOT YOU WITH THOROUGH AND THROUGH WELL DONE ! AND NOW YOU WISH, PERHAPS TO LEARN OF LESS FAMILIAR TRAPS ? BEWARE OF HEARD, A DREADFUL WORD THAT LOOKS LIKE BEARD AND SOUNDS LIKE BIRD. AND DEAD, ITS SAID LIKE BED, NOT BEAD – FOR GOODNESS SAKE DON’T CALL IT DEED ! WATCH OUT FOR MEAT AND GREAT AND THREAT – THEY RHYME WITH SUITE AND STRAIGHT AND DEBT A MOTH IS NOT A MOTH IN MOTHER NOR BOTH IN BOTHER OR IN BROTHER AND HERE IS NOT A MATCH FOR THERE NOR DEAR AND FEAR FOR BEAR AND PEAR AND THERE’S DOSE AND ROSE AND LOSE – JUST LOOK THEM UP – AND GOOSE AND CHOOSE. AND CORK AND WORK AND CARD AND WARD AND FONT AND FRONT AND WORD AND SWORD AND DO AND GO AND THWART AND CART – COME, COME I’VE HARDLY MADE A START ! A DREADFUL LANGUAGE ? MAN ALIVE I’D MASTERED IT WHEN I WAS FIVE !
