There are billions of people and a version of normal to go along with each one of them. No two versions are exactly the same. There will be hundreds of thousands of little things that make up your version of normal. With any luck you can find people that have close to the same idea of what normal is that you do. These are your friends. Anyone else you try to tolerate as best you can.
....
The exact definition of normal depends on who's running the asylum.
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
5159 - English is wie... weird - 1
This is going to take longer than it looks. Lots of reading to do.
I before E, HA!
Shhhhh...
Phonics
I hope you can blow this up to read it. It's funny!
Sue - I had to look that up. There's a Wikipedia article on it. gh, pronounced /f/ as in enough o, pronounced /ɪ/ as in women ti, pronounced /ʃ/ as in nation
Stu - #1 We'll need a list. #5 That just seems wrongly. I had to check it out... Hangman teaches kids that public execution is the only appropriate response to spelling words wrongly. Spell check lets either one work. But it also didn't correct the first wrongly.
And then I found this... Most often, wrong sounds right when it comes after a verb, as in Things have gone wrong, You heard wrong, and You're doing it wrong. Wrongly tends to sound better when it comes before a verb, as in wrongly accused. From... Mignon Fogarty is the founder of Quick and Dirty Tips and the author of seven books on language, including the New York Times bestseller "Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing."
Kieth - For me, it's my last name. :)
Peggy - Hung, hanged, either way, you're dead. And I'm right there with you. Spell check is my best friend.
Deb - As I just told Peggy, spell check is my best freind. :)
I read somewhere once that, to a greater extent than other languages for some reason, English incorporates more foreign words, and that accounts for all the inconsistent spellings. Of course, when I say "foreign words" I mean words that were foreign a century, even centuries, ago. By the time we the living learn them, it's plain, but not-so-plain, English.
Smiling.
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed a seriously weird language. Ghoti being pronounced fish is proof of that.
Sue - I had to look that up. There's a Wikipedia article on it.
ReplyDeletegh, pronounced /f/ as in enough
o, pronounced /ɪ/ as in women
ti, pronounced /ʃ/ as in nation
I can't remember where I found it. It makes sense with the explanation. And none without it.
ReplyDeleteHey, who's the linguist here?? We may need to play hangman to sort it out.
ReplyDeleteRe #1 : There are actually more exceptions to the I before E "rule" than cases covered by said "rule".
ReplyDeleteRe #5 : Hangman : tha last word is an adverb, so should have an LY at the end.
As a Keith (but not a foreigner), I've always struggled with this.
ReplyDeleteDear God I should be hung then.
ReplyDeletewait - it's hanged isn't it? See? I deserve it.
ReplyDeleteI heartily concur with the last one, LOL! Except, of course, when I'm the one who spells a word wrong.
ReplyDeleteSue - That's for sure.
ReplyDeleteBill - And I have more for tomorrow!
Stu - #1 We'll need a list.
#5 That just seems wrongly.
I had to check it out...
Hangman teaches kids that public execution is the only appropriate response to spelling words wrongly.
Spell check lets either one work. But it also didn't correct the first wrongly.
And then I found this...
Most often, wrong sounds right when it comes after a verb, as in Things have gone wrong, You heard wrong, and You're doing it wrong. Wrongly tends to sound better when it comes before a verb, as in wrongly accused.
From... Mignon Fogarty is the founder of Quick and Dirty Tips and the author of seven books on language, including the New York Times bestseller "Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing."
Kieth - For me, it's my last name. :)
Peggy - Hung, hanged, either way, you're dead. And I'm right there with you. Spell check is my best friend.
Deb - As I just told Peggy, spell check is my best freind. :)
I don't know how non-native speakers ever get the hang of the language.
ReplyDeleteImagine if you used your genius for good, Mike!
ReplyDeleteKathy - I'm always impressed when people speak three or more languages and English is one of them.
ReplyDeleteCloudia - I'll do some imagining and get back to you. Later.
I read somewhere once that, to a greater extent than other languages for some reason, English incorporates more foreign words, and that accounts for all the inconsistent spellings. Of course, when I say "foreign words" I mean words that were foreign a century, even centuries, ago. By the time we the living learn them, it's plain, but not-so-plain, English.
ReplyDeleteKirk - English is a conglomeration of many languages.
ReplyDeleteEnglish is not normal, see
ReplyDeletehttps://getpocket.com/explore/item/english-is-not-normal
Stu - Interesting article. I've got a book on the beginnings of English that's ... somewhere around here.
ReplyDeleteBAHAHAHA! The hanged man. LOVE that one. :)
ReplyDeleteMartha - I'm sure there are people that think like that. That's why I rely on a spell checker. I don't want to be in their sites.
ReplyDelete