Got this from my m-i-l. thought you all might enjoy it too.
Can you read these right the first time?
1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used toproduce produce.[/SIZE]
3) The dump was so full that it had torefuse morerefuse.
4) We mustpolish thePolish furniture.
5) He couldlead if he would get theleadout.
6) The soldier decided todesert his dessert in thedesert.
7) Since there is no time like thepresent, he thought it was time topresent thepresent.8) Abass was painted on the head of thebassdrum.
9) When shot at, thedovedove into the bushes.
10) I did notobject to theobject.11) The insurance wasinvalid for theinvalid.
12) There was arowamong the oarsmen about how torow.
13) They were tooclose to the door toclose it.
14) The buckdoesfunny things when thedoes are present.
15) A seamstress and asewer fell down into asewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught hissow tosow.17) Thewind was too strong towind the sail.
18) Upon seeing thetearin the painting I shed atear.
19) I had tosubject thesubjectto a series of tests.
20) How can Iintimate this to my mostintimate friends.
Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France . Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all.
P.S. - Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick'?
Can you read these right the first time?
1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used toproduce produce.[/SIZE]
3) The dump was so full that it had torefuse morerefuse.
4) We mustpolish thePolish furniture.
5) He couldlead if he would get theleadout.
6) The soldier decided todesert his dessert in thedesert.
7) Since there is no time like thepresent, he thought it was time topresent thepresent.8) Abass was painted on the head of thebassdrum.
9) When shot at, thedovedove into the bushes.
10) I did notobject to theobject.11) The insurance wasinvalid for theinvalid.
12) There was arowamong the oarsmen about how torow.
13) They were tooclose to the door toclose it.
14) The buckdoesfunny things when thedoes are present.
15) A seamstress and asewer fell down into asewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught hissow tosow.17) Thewind was too strong towind the sail.
18) Upon seeing thetearin the painting I shed atear.
19) I had tosubject thesubjectto a series of tests.
20) How can Iintimate this to my mostintimate friends.
Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France . Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all.
P.S. - Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick'?
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