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I absolutely adore the English language with all of its ups and downs, twists and turns, astounding hyperboles and alliterative inclinations. And let's not forget the puns! However, it's no secret that the language can be a tad… discombobulating for new students, anyone who's learning English as a second language, and native speakers alike.

To show you what we mean, the literature-loving philology fans here at Bored Panda have collected the most hilarious and honest examples of people showing how frustrating the English language can be for them. Have a read below, upvote your fave posts, and remember to share your own experience with the exciting journey that is learning English.

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Ozacoter
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love english and its probably my favourite language for its grammal simplicity and plasticity. But the random pronunciation drives me insane.

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Phendrena
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Needs more upvotes. "the sound a plunger makes" outstanding and 100% hilarious

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During an earlier interview, I spoke to Dr. Lisa McLendon about the difficulties that foreign students face when learning English, as well as how to keep our linguistic skills sharp. Dr. McLendon is the News and Information Track Chair at the University of Kansas School of Journalism and Coordinator at the Bremner Editing Center.

According to Dr. McLendon, a lot of the difficulties that foreign students face depend on the languages that they already know. Those who know languages similar to English in their structure and logic will have an easier time.

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“For students whose native language lacks articles (a, an, the), articles are by far the hardest category of words to master. Verb tense/aspect is also really hard—the difference between ‘I read,' ‘I am reading,' and ‘I do read' is nonexistent in many other languages,” the language expert explained.

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Dynein
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah but that's true for every language. You rarely have "full" synonyms that are completely interchangeable in every context (non-native speakers are generally detectable by breaking unspoken context rules) . Apart from minute differences in meaning, most words also have meanings beyond the thing they describe, such as opinion.

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Just memorizing common words doesn't help overcome these linguistic barriers. What needs to happen is for the student in question to completely shift their mindset. That and practice things until the quirks of the English language become second nature to them.

“These don't pose any difficulties for native speakers who use them correctly without even thinking about it,” Dr. McLendon said about the linguistic nuances.

It's not just foreign speakers that have issues with the language, though. The professor highlighted that in her experience as an editor and an educator, she found that native speakers have trouble with past passive participles in speech (e.g. saying ‘I had went').

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What's more, when it comes to writing, native speakers have issues with punctuation, homophones (e.g. peek vs. peak), and misplaced modifiers.

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Dynein
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sarcasm, I guess. Use the word in a sarcastic context too often and it changes the meaning to the opposite. Happens frequently.

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Nianudd
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

“Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder. Elves are marvellous. They cause marvels. Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies. Elves are glamorous. They project glamour. Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment. Elves are terrific. They beget terror. The thing about words is that meanings can twist just like a snake, and if you want to find snakes look for them behind words that have changed their meaning. No one ever said elves are nice. Elves are bad.” Terry Pratchett

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Venic
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think "terrific" only took on a positive connotation later on. It was originally meant, as far as I know, to mean something that inspires terror (from the Latin "terrificus"). "Awful" kinda went through the same transition from the opposite direction - something that inspires awe.

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Emperor Kitten
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You are 100% correct. People used to say "terrifically good" in the same way they'd now say "awfully good". ie - so good it's scary

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Kira Okah
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Terrific being positive is pretty recent, throughout most of its use it was used in the sense of causing terror.

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Easily Excitable Panda
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Terrific" still has both meanings (terrifying and amazing), just to make things confusing. Then you realize that awesome, amazing, and adore (for a start) originally had religious meanings, and your head starts pounding. Ecstatically.

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Downunderdude
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I bought a cheap tape recorder once - prob from China. The slogan on the box was 'small but terrible'.

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Robert Persson
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Dutch too. Geweld = violence. Gewelddagig = violent. Geweldig = terrific.

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Yehudit Hannah Cohn
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is an example of a meaning shift: "terrific" used to mean something terrifying. Kind of like "awesome".

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Steve
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's because terrifying people is fun! You're welcome

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Lynn Morello
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Terrific is sometime OK, it depends on the tone in your voice. So maybe we can put two faces on that one.

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Virgil Blue
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just wait until they look up the origins of glamorous and fabulous. Imaginative used to have a bad rep too once. Its amazing how language keeps changing trough the years.

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Dr. McLendon suggested that nobody rest on their laurels. Learning's a lifelong mission and improving our English skills is no exception. And if we want to keep our minds well-honed and our quills sharp, then we're going to have to get some good habits under our belts.

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guy greej
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I warn bored panda to remove this one. This could cause various murders by the readers here.

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“Read! Read widely and frequently. Read magazines, newspapers, novels, even cereal boxes,” the language expert told Bored Panda. “But be careful when scrolling through social media, which although it can give you a good idea of current slang and shorthand, it's often not a great model of clarity, accuracy, or good grammar.”

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When it comes to pronunciation, though, Dr. McLendon pointed out that both native speakers and foreign students alike have problems with it. Especially when we're talking about less common words like ‘epitome.'

“I've known lots of people who learned words by reading, not by hearing, and so had no idea how they were pronounced. But for people learning English, pronunciation can be a real nightmare,” the professor said.

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Nicola Roberts
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was taking a TEFL (Teaching English as a foreign Language) qualification in Japan, and one of the exercises I had to do was read to a class of students. The one word that stuck in my mind was black bird versus blackbird. The difference is so subtle, but I hadn't given it any thought until you had to explain the difference.

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Kari Panda
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My English teacher taught me not to use "handy" in English because it would be a derogatory term for handicapped people. Is that true?

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“We have words that are spelled similarly but pronounced differently (bomb/comb/tomb) and words that are spelled differently but sound the same (peek/peak/pique). Plus, English has a lot of words that have silent letters, which can be confusing.”

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Victor Botha
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And here is another strange "Americdnism" I spit my cereal, I would say I spat my cereal...

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Dr. McLendon was candid that English is much more chaotic than other languages in terms of how spelling reflects pronunciation and vice versa. “English is a Gallic overlay on a Germanic base, plus it has borrowed liberally from languages all around the world throughout its development,” she told Bored Panda.

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Cassie
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have a medical condition which resulting in tearing of the cornea. When I write that, people sometime get confused. My cornea doesn't produce liquid, it rips apart and is excruciatingly painful, but tearing can make it feel a little better because the liquid lubricates and protects the tear.

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speer5884@msn.com
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And the B in tomb is silent, and the E in time is silent, and the T in often is silent, and the H in honor is silent, how do you pronounce BETH? It's all silent letters!

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“When a word comes into English, where it comes from, and when a spelling gets standardized all affect how a word is written in relation to how it sounds. Other languages may not be exactly ‘spelled like it sounds' but have set patterns of how pronunciation does not correspond with spelling.”

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Thomas Sweda
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Because the Frigidaire brand became so popular that “fridge” was used as the term for all refrigerators.

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Victor Botha
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why do Americans say dove instead of dived? He dived into the pool, not he dove into the pool. That is what I was taught at school anyway. Also hanged and hung He was hanged from the tree, not he was hung from the tree. Is this a specifically American thing. No offence, just genuinely would like to know.

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Shaun May
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The country’s starting letter(s) switched from ‘f’ to ‘ph’ when Spanish rule was replaced by American rule. No idea why the same did not happen to the demonym, however.

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Helenium
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Human was first recorded in the mid 13th century, and owes its existence to the Middle French humain “of or belonging to man.” That word, in turn, comes from the Latin humanus, thought to be a hybrid relative of homo, meaning “man,” and humus, meaning “earth.” Thus, a human, unlike birds, planes, or even divine spirits up above, is a man firmly rooted to the earth

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N G
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You used to be able to just step on the bus and remain standing (back when there were conductors and the entrance/exit was at the back). Time moves on and language doesn't. Do you still hang up the phone?

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N G
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The capitalisation aids understanding, but spoils the effect.

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