ENGLISH is a real mongrel language, which is why it is the most used language in the world, if you take users of all grades of competence.
This is in spite of the absolutely crazy spelling and pronunciation “rules” that it suffers from. A look at the poems on the left illustrates this quite well.
I suppose that we have the famous Dr Samuel Johnson to blame for most of this.
In choosing the words for his dictionary he seems to have had a penchant for Old
and Middle English spellings. In those days every letter was pronounced, try saying
“thought” like that (except “th” was a single letter then.), sort of “tho-
How many words can a language have for one thing? When it is skin in English it can also be hide, pelt or fur. Having several words for one thing does have advantages,it means that poets and authors have a very rich language to chose their words from. Its probably the most flexible language in the world.
ENJOY ANAGRAMS?
Animosity = Is no amity
Mother-
Snooze alarms = Alas! No more Z's
The detectives = Detect thieves
There are more on:
Dormitory = Dirty room
New York Times = Monkeys write
Statue of Liberty = Built to stay free
The eyes = They see
A WORD OF WARNING ON DICTIONARIES...
...especially if you are learning English as a foreign language.
Look up the word “gimlet” in any version of the Oxford dictionary, then compare
the definition with that from, say, Collins English Dictionary for Advanced Learners
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They don’t match! The original meaning of “gimlet” as a carpenters’ tool for making small holes in wood has been lost in the Collins dictionary.
If you need a very good command of English buy an Oxford version as well.
Otherwise the Collins is great. Rather than the short or synonymic definition it gives an explanation and an example of the word in context.
Even the Oxford dictionaries sometimes
disagree on the definition or etymology of
a word!
Going back to the Collins Advanced Learners dictionary:
It happened to be handy when I wanted to look up “flaccid”. The definition reads:
“You use flaccid to describe a part of some ones body when it is unpleasantly soft and not hard or firm.”
Yeah, at my age that seems very appropriate!
BOOKS I HAVE ENJOYED
(Or have used and can recommend.)
A is for Ox:
a short history of the alphabet.
Lyn Davies/Ottakar’s
ISBN 9781845671365
(I don’t know hy the author has changed in the Amazon listing, my copy is definitely credited to Lyn Davies! Weird!)
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The Alphabet
David Sachs/Arrow
ISBN 9780099436829
(Both of the above are different approaches to the history of the so-
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Coined by Shakespeare
Jeffrey McQuain & Stanley Malless/
Merriam Webster
ISBN 0877793530
(Words and phrases coined or adapted by the bard in his plays, and many are still in use today)
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Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 16th edition
Adrian Room/Cassells
ISBN 9780304350964
(There is a later edition and variations: Modern..., Irish...)
Use on the web at:
(You will find out a lot about the origins of many English phrases from this book.
Don’t be worried about buying an older, second hand, edition, they are all useful.
I own and use half of the 1903 edition , it has items dropped from later ones. I’m
still looking for the L-
Cassells publish a wide range of dictionaries, many for unusual fields)
(I have a bit of a thing about dictionaries anyway, but only own 28 at the moment...)
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Eats, shoots & leaves
Lynne Truss/Profiles Books
ISBN 1861976127
Have you ever listened to the comedy programme “I’m sorry I haven’t a clue” on BBC Radio 4. If you aren’t living within range of that station and like plays on words, in English, I would very much recommend that you look at the link below for a sample:
Likewise I recommend “The Uxbridge English Dictionary” (yes, that is the correct spelling), published by Harper Collins. It is based on one of the rounds in the above programme. I hope the publishers and the team won’t mind me quoting some of the definitions:
Discover: a record sleeve
Impeccable: bird proof
Marigold: get rich quick
I’ve been interested in language, philosophy and the communication of meaning for most of my life. Although I like to see good, coherent, concise English written the older versions (Shakespeare etc.) puns and other plays on words, of any kind, are great fun.
This page is dedicated to anything I can find that fits into the loosest definition of the above, varying from quotes from the classics of literature to anything that I find on the street, written and verbal
Whilst sitting in the college refectory one of the many Chinese students studying English asked is she could sit with me. I soon found out that this was a common practice so that they could practice their English, but they were always very friendly with good senses of humour.
During the conversation we soon touched on the tonal nature of Chinese and that, in the written form, the context is essential to understand which meaning is being used.
My companion soon made it clear just how many English words also need a context to understand their use and how many have slight pronunciation differences that change their meaning.
I will never complain about how awkward Chinese is again!
In a technical job and need some new phrases to spice up your reports?
Take a look at the
NEED A QUOTATION?
TRY
The Quotations Page
It full of them!
To translate, select and copy the text and then paste into
