Barbara
Does anyone else have random thoughts, that just appear from nowhere?
Its been a distraction all of my life. At school, I would be writing and then just wonder why something was called what it was, why and how called it that, example, a circle - why is it called a circle and not a square? Who first called it a circle? What does circle mean?
Latest wandering of the mason mind - how can two words be spelt the same, virtually mean the same but be pronounced differently?
This example is refuse (that is, not wanting something) and refuse (ie rubbish)
Basically they mean the same thing, that is something you don't want, so why do we pronounce it differently?
I suppose all languages have such similarities but English just seems to have more,
Ayup, mind wandering again, going to contemplate the age old problem of whether the toast will stay butter side up if attached to the back of a cat.
Oh, BTW, if you see my mind wandering your way, please send it home, its not supposed to out unsupervised. LOL
centurion
if your into pondering the weirdness of the English language then check this out:
I think a retired English teacher was bored...You think English is easy??1) The bandage was wound around the wound.2) The farm was used to produce produce.3) The dump was so full that it had torefuse more refuse.4) We must polish the Polishfurniture..5) He could lead if he would get thelead out.6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert..7) Since there is no time like thepresent, he thought it was time topresent the present.8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.10) I did not object to the object.11) The insurance was invalid for theinvalid.12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.13) They were too close to the door toclose it.14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.17) The wind was too strong to windthe sail.18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear..19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?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. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.
Deleted Member
errrm phew and wow Centurion, where did you get all that info from? It did make me chuckle as well as catch my interest though
missstephanie86
whoa thats great centurion
Deleted Member
Barbara, as one might expect, the word 'circle' came from the word 'kirkos' which derives from the word 'ker' which means bend or curvature. Most geometry / mathematical terms hark back to happier times when Greece was the most advanced country in the world - instead of the bankrupt, tax-dodging, EU country it has now become.
Deleted Member
Most of my thoughts are extremely random.... lol Just ask anyone who knows me....an example heres a poem i wrote
I see tigers in my carpets
Ducks on my doors.
All these pictures my
Imagination draws
Wolves in the wallpaper
Elephants on the shed
Pretty images
Floating in my head
Fairies in my curtains
A dragon in my table
Now am i artistic
Or mentally unstable?
Kt
Sandi
LOL nice one GL
jinx57
random thoughts?????? you mean there's ANOTHER type?bugger......
Deleted Member
Do flying insects speed up when the pass wind?
Sandi
PML @ RM's comment, you wally!
(Do they tho?)
Deleted Member
This came to me as a memory, being almost New Years, or Hogmanay, I thought maybe it was relevant.
Sassenach. ANCIENT gaellic word for a SAXON, not a low lander Scot or strictly speaking an Englishman, but one who is decendant from German ( Saxon ) blood lines.
Deleted Member
Also, there is naff all on the telly at 1pm on boxing day. Bah Humbug!
jinx57
out with you on the bike....or look at photos i took lunchtime today on profile....it pissed down but hundreds out there...
Sandi
Aww Jinx, how can we nosey at the photos on your profile when your profile is unavailable? *tuts*
jinx57
random thoughts......there's another type?????????????'kin 'ell !!!!