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25.01.2022 It is official, the worst spellers of English words are mother-tongue English speakers. I recently viewed a job advertisement where it stated: '... must have knowlage of MS systems...' A blog reads: "Can someone pls suggest how I mate relive this headake?"... What a shocker! You think I'm kidding. Pay more attention next time you read something ;)
25.01.2022 In the middle ages, the wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep from slipping. As the winter continued, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start sliding outside. A piece of wood or barrier was placed in the entrance way. Hence the saying: Threshold. Nowadays, this word has more application in financial matters, e.g. limits relating to loans and investments, budgets, etc...
23.01.2022 Below is a good reason why it is important to write proper English. This is a funny story, but True! A friend went to Beijing recently and was given this brochure by the hotel. It is priceless. Obviously, it has been translated directly, word for word from Mandarin to English.... Getting There: Our representative will make you wait at the airport. The bus to the hotel runs along the lake shore. Soon you will feel pleasure in passing water. You will know that you are getting near the hotel, because you will go round the bend. The manager will await you in the entrance hall. He always tries to have intercourse with all new guests. The Hotel: This is a family hotel, so children are very welcome. We of course are always pleased to accept adultery. Highly skilled nurses are available in the evenings to put down your children. Guests are invited to conjugate in the bar and expose themselves to others. But please note that ladies are not allowed to have babies in the bar. We organize social games, so no guest is ever left alone to play with them self. The Restaurant: Our menus have been carefully chosen to be ordinary and unexciting. At dinner, our quartet will circulate from table to table, and fiddle with you. Your Room: Every room has excellent facilities for your private parts. In winter, every room is on heat. Each room has a balcony offering views of outstanding obscenity! .. You will not be disturbed by traffic noise, since the road between the hotel and the lake is used only by pederasts. Bed: Your bed has been made in accordance with local tradition. If you have any other ideas please ring for the chambermaid. Please take advantage of her. She will be very pleased to squash your shirts, blouses and underwear. If asked, she will also squeeze your trousers. Above All: When you leave us at the end of your holiday, you will have no hope. You will struggle to forget it.
22.01.2022 A brief historical anatomy of the English language and its global influence...
18.01.2022 Our English language... English is a silly language There is no egg in the eggplant No ham in the hamburger ... And neither pine nor apple in the pineapple. English muffins were not invented in England French fries were not invented in France. We sometimes take English for granted But if we examine its paradoxes we find that Quicksand takes you down slowly Boxing rings are square And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. if writers write, how come fingers don't fing. If the plural of tooth is teeth Shouldn't the plural of phone booth be phone beeth If the teacher taught, Why didn't the preacher praught. If a vegetarian eats vegetables So, what does a humanitarian eat? Why do people recite at play Yet play at a recital? Park on driveways and Drive on parkways How can the weather be as hot as hell on one day And cold as hell on another You have to marvel at the unique lunacy Of a language where a house can burn up as It burns down And in which you fill in a form By filling it out And a bell is only heard once it goes! English was invented by people, not computers. And it reflects the creativity of the human race (Which of course isn't a race at all) That is why When the stars are out they are visible But when the lights are out they are invisible And why it is that when I wind up my watch It starts But when I wind up this poem It ends See more
17.01.2022 There is an idiomatic expression used to avoid ignoring the good and the bad altogether - by rejecting something which may have some element of good in it, anyway Where does it come from? In Ye Olde Days, baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. For their yearly bath, the man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies! By then the water was so dirty and it got pretty hard to see what was really in it. Hence the saying, Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water.
17.01.2022 What is the difference between the words imbalance and unbalanced? When can I use either? IMBALANCE is when there is a lack between corresponding things. That is, something is missing. E.g. 'There seems to be an imbalance of iron in your body.' UNBALANCED is when you make someone unsteady, or upset or disturb the current equilibrium. 'After their argument, John felt unbalanced about his relationship.'
17.01.2022 WELL and GOOD! Why do we have these two words in the English language, and exactly when should we use them? GOOD is an adjective (describes something) and usually goes before the noun when explaining WHAT is, e.g. colour, etc... "I've had a good day!" WELL is an adverb (a word describing HOW something is done) and usually goes after the noun. E.g., "I had a good night's rest." or "I rested well." - How are you? I'm well! I'm not feeling so well. What is the difference betwe...en (a) and (b) below? (a) You speak good! (b) You speak well! ANSWER: (a) is incorrect. Other useful adverbs look like this: quickly, softly, importantly, deftly, secretly, amazingly, etc... Can you see a pattern here? "Well, actually..." See more
16.01.2022 Many thanks to all those wonderful fans of this new page. Your support is much appreciated, and I aim to make it as interesting as possible :)
16.01.2022 One of my FB friends posted this recently and I just had to share it with you. Forgive me for not remembering who shared it - but it is indeed priceless and will have you rolling on the floor in stitches. Many thanks to the friend who made me laugh so hard Read on and see for yourself why: A friend went to Beijing recently and was given this brochure by the hotel. It is priceless. Obviously, it has been translated directly, word for word from Mandarin to English. Getting ...There: Our representative will make you wait at the airport. The bus to the hotel runs along the lake shore. Soon you will feel pleasure in passing water. You will know that you are getting near the hotel, because you will go round the bend. The manager will await you in the entrance hall. He always tries to have intercourse with all new guests. The Hotel: This is a family hotel, so children are very welcome. We of course are always pleased to accept adultery. Highly skilled nurses are available in the evenings to put down your children. Guests are invited to conjugate in the bar and expose themselves to others. But please note that ladies are not allowed to have babies in the bar. We organize social games, so no guest is ever left alone to play with them self. The Restaurant: Our menus have been carefully chosen to be ordinary and unexciting. At dinner, our quartet will circulate from table to table, and fiddle with you. Your Room: Every room has excellent facilities for your private parts. In winter, every room is on heat. Each room has a balcony offering views of outstanding obscenity! .. You will not be disturbed by traffic noise, since the road between the hotel and the lake is used only by pederasts. Bed: Your bed has been made in accordance with local tradition. If you have any other ideas please ring for the chambermaid. Please take advantage of her. She will be very pleased to squash your shirts, blouses and underwear. If asked, she will also squeeze your trousers. Above All: When you leave us at the end of your holiday, you will have no hope. You will struggle to forget it. Now isn't that worth all the tea in China? lol.
15.01.2022 'Graveyard Shift', 'Dead Ringer' and 'Saved by the Bell'! In some of England's old and small towns the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and empty the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realised they had been burying people alive. So, in some places they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer. Now, whoever said History was boring?
12.01.2022 Not all English words are pronounced in the same way, as for example, thought, thinking, thorough etc... is spoken by placing the tongue just behind the top front teeth. A bit like a lisp. Other words in English don't require this lisp 'TH' sound, consider words like the Thames River, or Thomas,
12.01.2022 English per italiani: In Italian the verb used to describe what you consume is 'prendere', e.g. (for example), "Prendo un caffe". In English this verb does not function the same way and that is why we don't say "I take a coffee." Instead (invece) we say, "I'll have a coffee." Always use the verb 'have' in its past, present and future forms. E.g. "I had eggs for breakfast!" "We're having seafood for dinner tonight." In bocca al lupo...
10.01.2022 There is a difference between the verb and noun: ADVOCATE... To advocate (difendere, patrocinare) - for Italian mother-tongue speakers you pronounce it as: [advokeit]. However, an advocate (sostenitore, difensore) say it like this: [advoket]. English nouns and verbs have different pronunciation. These are the type of questions you get in ESL exams. Please practice the transliteration.
09.01.2022 ... And you thought Vamoose was not a word. Think again. Pronuncia: Vamús.
08.01.2022 Five words I know of in the English language where the laws of Pronunciation are broken... Honest, Hour, Heir, Heirloom and Hour - We don't exhale on the 'H'! Therefore, each of these words are treated as if they start with a vowel and not a consonant. For this reason the article placed before any of these words happens to be 'an', and not 'a', e.g. "I have been waiting for an hour!" "She is an honest woman!"
07.01.2022 I keep hearing mother-tongue English speakers say: "There is a lot of things to do today." What's wrong with this? It should be in the plural sense, "There are a lot of things to do today." Mother-tongue English speakers are the worst offenders when it come to simple mistakes like this.
06.01.2022 English per italiani: FUN is not FUNNY! Le parole FUN e FUNNY non sono sempre usate bene... http://youtu.be/jeIGuSZwZAo
05.01.2022 In olden times most simple folk had floors of exposed earth or dirt (terra). Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying: DIRT POOR.
03.01.2022 What is Prince William and Prince Harrys surname? In 1917 King George V changed the British Royal family name from Saxa-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor as England was at war with his cousin, the German Kaiser Wilhelm II. It was determined that the Royal surname would henceforth be Windsor, the name of their favourite castle. After Queen Mary died, Queen Elizabeth II issued an edict stating that all male children, who do not use the title Royal Highness, or is called a Prince, will... use the name Mountbatten-Windsor. This was to show a sense of respect to her husband, Prince Philip. Prince William and Prince Harry use the title of Prince, and therefore not the last name Mountbatten-Windsor. Because they are the sons of the Prince of Wales, their surname becomes Wales. Like Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who both use the last name York, as the father is the Duke of York. (Windsor, though commonly mistaken as the last name, is the dynastic name and symbolizes the Royal House they come from). So, the answer to the question is: Their surname, by law, is Wales. The standard of the Prince of Wales is this feathered crown with the words inscribed in German 'Ich Dien', which means "I serve".
03.01.2022 Some interesting facts about the English language: The English language comprises of about 1.5 million words, with up to 40 new words being added daily, worldwide. Most educated people know around 20,000 to 30,000 words. Some professionals such as lawyers and judges, etc... know up to 80,000 words. Each day we use the same regular 2000 words to communicate. The most common word in the English language is "I". ... Around 34% of the English language is made up of French words - thanks to The Duke of Normandy, who after the Battle of Hastings of 1066, became King of England, William I. For the next three hundred years or so the official language of the British courts was written in French. English is officially a germanic language and the remainder is made up of words from Sanskrit, Lithuanian, Latin, but the bulk is made up of Old Nordic languages, e.g., Thursday is named after the Nordic god Thor. Some may consider English to still be in its infancy since it has only really been around for the past four hundred years and is not as sophisticated as Latin languages. English does not express gender or conjugations referring to past and future tenses. Today we have variations of English to accommodate those learning it as a second language, e.g., Spanglish and Globish. Thou art now more informed upon the proprieties of Englysch. (As it was written in the Fourteenth Century).
02.01.2022 Language is all about sentiment designed to generate the right emotion for better understanding our position in life...
02.01.2022 UGSOME - was an English word originating in medieval times meaning 'loathsome' or 'disgusting'. It was a common synonym for 'horrid' and was used up to the late 1800s. Can you imagine its application in modern terms? Eg. 'That's ugsome, man!"
02.01.2022 HISTORY: Why do we say it? - "It's raining cats and dogs!" Houses had thatched roofs with thick straw piled high and with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying. It's raining cats and dogs.
01.01.2022 Did you know that the word Pentimento is now an English word found in the official dictionary. From its Italian root (Pentire - to repent) it is used when speaking about old paintings being painted over. For example, when restorers work on Leonardo da Vinci's 'Last Supper' mural found at the church Maria Delle Grazie in Milano... Strokes that have been painted over the original to bring up the colours - Pentimento.
