Why the English Language Makes No Sense

Posted on March 25, 2018 by terriponce

Come on now. We’re all thinking it.

The English language is W.E.I.R.D.

Cough. Dough.
How. Low.
Meat. Great. Threat.

I mean, seriously. Right?

So, today, I wanna see just how much I can make your head spin. Though you might want to consider taking some aspirin first. Or a good, strong drink.

Ready?

Great.

Now, here’s why the English language makes no sense…

Because our spelling is confusing.

Consider this. If you took the rules of English spelling to heart and wanted to spell the word potato with those rules, this is what would happen:

If GH can stand for P as in ‘hiccough’,
If OUGH can stand for O as in ‘dough’,
If PHTH can stand for T as in ‘phthisis’,
If EIGH can stand for A as in ‘neighbor’,
If TTE can stand for T as in ‘gazette’,
If EAU can stand for O as in ‘plateau’,
Then the correct way to spell potato would be
GHOUGHPHTHEIGHTTEEAU

Because ‘that that’ should be a flaw:

Because this (THIS!) makes sense:

“I never said she stole my money.”

Depending on which word you stress,
the sentence can have 7 different meanings.

Because numbers are complicated:

Because there’s no such thing as a rule unless you can break it:

Because, on a final note, we’ll never be able to explain this:

I wish I could take credit for this great content, but it was all pulled together by the wonderful folks at BuzzFeed. Got any good ones to add? I’d love to see ’em.

♥ Namaste ♥

Copyright © 2012-2018 · All Rights Reserved · TerriPonce.com

About terriponce

I write about secrets, suspense, and soulmates.
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26 Responses to Why the English Language Makes No Sense

  1. Pingback: Just Because…. – Technology: The Native Tongue of the 21st Century

  2. V.M.Sang says:
    April 1, 2018 at 9:36 am

    I’ve reblogged this on Dragons Rule OK, but scheduled it for the end of April as I’ve got posts already before that.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  3. V.M.Sang says:
    April 1, 2018 at 9:33 am

    Great post. Gave me a laugh, (there’s another one!)
    bough, plough, through, though, enough, Truly weird.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  4. efmeyette2016 says:
    March 26, 2018 at 7:54 am

    Love this post, Terri. I used ANGUISHED ENGLISH by Richard Lederer with my students when I taught. He mentions many of these. The chapter on history according to studen bloopers had us all ROFL. Thanks for a fun start to the day.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  5. Pingback: Why the English Language Makes No Sense | Campbells World

  6. The Owl Lady says:
    March 26, 2018 at 7:33 am

    Great post, Terri! I’m sharing it all over! Have a wonderful week! @v@ ❤

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  10. claire plaisted says:
    March 25, 2018 at 5:51 pm

    Reblogged this on Plaisted Publishing House and commented:
    Now this is a good GIGGLE….:)

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  11. koolkosherkitchen says:
    March 25, 2018 at 10:17 am

    Love it and will share with my students – thank you!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  12. Judy Penz Sheluk says:
    March 25, 2018 at 10:17 am

    Loved this so much I shared on Pinterest, FB and Twitter.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

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