English makes me laugh, sometimes

I continually come across strange words in English, here is a couple I thought of recently

English words can be really dumb,
Some words make the brain get dizzy and hum
With so much fiction, about friction and stiction
With such stupendous contra-diction, that we think is normal diction!

I'll begin this very English story, with the word "extra-ordinary".
Look at any dictionary, and "common or "usual" is "ordinary".
If the "Extra" is looked up too, "Extra" means "more" it's very true.
But add the two and it's Double-Dutch, the whole word means "rare" "unusual" and such!

Here's another word to show, English is not quite what we know.
"Terre" is from the Latin word, that talks of "Earth" or so we've heard.
Now "Extra" means "more of the same", so contra-diction is rife again.
As the word itself means "not of this earth", it makes me laugh, I'm full of mirth!
So when those English teachers state, "each word is meaningful"  -DEBATE!

Author's Note

Should we sit and ponder what our words mean...hmmm

Reviews

[Samuel Dickens]

Maybe it's just the odd way my mind works, but I often do ponder words, their roots, and how they came to be. I'm a bit surprised to see your use of "stiction", that being a word usually used to describe qualities of motorcycle front suspension. So I've heard, English is one of the most difficult to learn.

[Daffy]

Hello, Samuel. Yes, 'stiction', (Physics / General Physics) the frictional force to be overcome to set one object in motion when it is in contact with another
[blend of static + friction]. This is from the dictionary. Poetic licence? I had to find another word to rhyme with Friction.....I have never been on a motor-cycle....the thought frightens me! Thanks for the review.

[Samuel Dickens]

Oh, my. And you're from the land of some of the most wonderful motorcycles ever built.

[Michael G. Smith]

I like you am fascinated by the English language; for one you can never stop findin newer idiosyncrasies. It's as if you're always on a treasure hunt.

[Woody]

a very enjoyable read, indeed. And yes English can be strange at times, but isn't that the beauty of it?
look at the multitude of jokes, puns, riddles and whatnot. a facinating language. could be because it's not my native language!!

[Daffy]

Thank you again, Engluva for taking the time to read this. Yes, you are right, and of course we English are always enjoying our language and its conundrums. It makes me smile when we say...oh, there's a nip in the air....but, American is even more so....they 'take a bath' or 'take a shower' or 'take a swim'. I wonder where they 'take' everything to.....Daffy

[Woody]

haha.. for a stroll, perhaps. and you're welcome. I enjoyed the read.

[Baby Ricochet]

Shorty be thick. Translation: My Girlfriend is voluptuous. You good? Translation: Do you have drugs to sell me? Sup dog. Translation: How are you doing. Language is an ever changing phenomenon

[Daffy]

Yes and thanks again, I need to be taught these phrases, how could I survive if I didn't know? (I don't seem to get out much.... I would need a phrase book if I did!)

[Dr. Wood ?]

and you could go ON and ON Our language must be the envy of the world for all of it's intricacies and double meanings...

[Daffy]

There is no other language like it......thank goodness!

[Dr. Wood ?]

I shot my bow the target bowed I hit the bough and cut it through
though no-one thought the string was taut, it taught a thing or two
You are SO right

[Daffy]

Wonderfully expressed.....

[Dr. Wood ?]

thanks..........................

[Anand Sehgal]

With so much fiction, about friction and stiction
With such stupendous contra-diction, that we think is normal diction!


enjoyed it so very much ! :) :)

[Daffy]

So glad you did, thank you for the review.

[icelandicblue]

English is a language of idioms and rules that have more exceptions than the rules themselves. Personally, I think we make it up as we go along. This was really amusing.

[Daffy]

There is a lot in what you say in this review....What happens, is that when a lot of people like what we have made up, it is included in a dictionary, an becomes 'ok'. Like 'OK' did...hmmm. Thanks for the review, the more we thought, the more we knew, (or thought we knew!)

[Tomás Ó C..]

Its a great old language all right... its not so much what you say but how you say it... so much gets lost in translation!!!

[Daffy]

C'est vrai, mon ami. Quel dommage, mais, c'est vrai.

[Tomás Ó Cárthaigh]

Is fír atá é... (in Irish Gaelic!!!)

[Daffy]

Not sure about your phrase, but for sure this phrase is meaningful, I thought: Ní leor teanga amháin. Which I think means, one language is just not enough. I hope and pray that Esperanto will not become the sole language of the world, as some hope. How could we love each other, without the Gaelic, French and Italian languages?

[h d e rushin]

"if you like my poems let them
walk in the evening, a little behind you

then people will say
"along this road I saw a princess pass
on her way to meet her lover (it was
toward nightfall) with tall and ignorant servants"

This poem by E.E. Cummings ("if you like my poems let them")
suggests not just the dabate of words
but how that debate might impact
meaning. Cummings' idea of poetry
was as you stated "more is extra true"
but only of meaning and certainly not of
intent.

A very charming poem Ms.

dana

[Daffy]

Well, I really appreciate your words here. I don't know the poem, but I will read it. Thanks for this review.

[Ken Simm.]

Eschew obfuscation at all costs. Clever and witty. A rare combination.

[Daffy]

Hallo, Ken. It does make me laugh, well we have to be lighthearted! Today, I was cycling to my son's house, and a van pulled into the side of the road. On the van in large letters, were the words: " Ultra-fast Fibre". It is getting worse. Everyday, I see something. My English teacher must be rolling in her grave! Thanks for the review and your time to call in. Daffy

[Ken Simm.]

I particularly enjoy stupid English. Sign on the side of a bus near here. 'Can't read, then ring this number'. 'Warning the edges of this sign are sharp'.

[Daffy]

That is really good, Ken. Here's another, (we could go on all day), Live football Inside....(sign outside pub).

[Ken Simm.]

Just one more. Ear piercing while you wait. (Not whilst note)

[Daffy]

lovely one that......we could go on all day....well, alright then....how about: "Ice Cream Only", painted on the road by the riverside!

[Ken Simm.]

Did you know that the London Aquarium has under each tank a list of the fish in it in braille?

[Ken Simm.]

Or on the bottom of a box of Celebration chocolates it used to say Do not read whilst box is open.

[Daffy]

It surely seems that we are two of a kind. I wonder how many other people notice these things. It is amazing that a complete 'team' of people would have been behind the writing, and the designing of that sign at the aquarium. How many departments authorised it, etc. Nobody can have spotted it can they? The same applies to the box of chocs, not one person was involved with that! We must be having an epidemic!