40 Times The English Language Drove The People Learning It To Utter Frustration

Oh dear... O.o

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

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

I love that example!

I had to say that in my mind like 50 times until it made sense

If I try to write that i think i will break my corrector

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.

And did you pick him up?

Why is the nose running and the feet smell???

*Takes notes*. Don't use s**t when talking to someone...

This is brilliant.

Love this one!

It will say BOOM later on

Lining up in silence, exactly as a queue should be!

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

Also "gaol" O.O

Shouldn't "emordnilap palindrome" simply be a palindrome?

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

...... foreign neighbour's heifer

Quite impressive

isn't that convenient?

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.

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

*jabs finger at my screen* America explain!!!

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

Whoever came up with those names for the hair colors were color blind

That would be a nice nickname for bored panda!

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.

Fun with sounds and spelling

When a word beginning with "u" has a "y" sound, it's "a" as in "a unique idea". When a word beginning with "u" has a "u" sound, it's "an" as in "an ugly sweater party".

don't forget! Y is SOMETIMES a vowel. Hydro yes, yes no.

Told this to my friend and they straight up stopped and asked me what I am doing with my life

Wait till he learns how it works with H, which isn't even a vowel. Pretty much if it starts with a silent H you say an (an honour), if you say the H its a (a horror).

I grew up studying English to the point I know what is 'right' or not... And I have no idea why the correct way is correct. :D

And it is an 'H' not a 'H';

why forget y? "a e i o u and sometimes y" anyone?

This is why good teachers teach the verbal use of a language before the writing and reading of it, just as children learn

I was taught as a kid that ‘y’ is a vowel as well. Perhaps a rare one such as in my, by, etc. Dont remember if there’s a special term for that.

When people don't realise that English doesn't actually have five vowels...

There are 5+ vowels; AEIOU and sometimes Y

A/an is about vowel sounds. The u in unicorn is more like a y, while in umbrella it is a true u sound. It is why in American English we say a history and in UK English the sam an history. The h in UK history is almost silent.

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!

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

Fairly sure this is because U used to be written as a V

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.

Welcome to the English language

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.

:o

English is definitely not boring

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

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?

The capitalisation aids understanding, but spoils the effect.

is that why it's b00bs and not beebs?

I can explain the egg plant one. It was on a post here earlier - a different European breed looks exactly like eggs hanging from a branch. Incidentally, it's also known as aubergine (no idea the etymology on that one, it's probably French)

clever.

The answer is yes.