My father used to say how illogical the English language was. He spoke several languages and he found learning English quite difficult.
I was reminded of this by a recent email that I received from a friend who gave me the following examples:

1) The farm was used to produce produce.

2) I did not object to the object.

3) We must polish the polish furniture.

4) He could lead if he could get the lead out.

5) The bandage was wound around the wound.

6) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

And there were many more - however I thought it may be fun for other posters to come up with their own examples of this wonderful language of ours.

You inputs please...

The English language, now that's an interesting topic.
From the beginning of English settlement there have been multitudes of invasions from mainland Europe each bringing their own language and culture.

Before that England was made of a multitude of tribes each speaking their own language or a variety of dialects. Mix in the languages of the invaders and the English living on the east coast did not understand the English living on the west coast and the English living in the south could not communicate with the English in the north.

With time the language developed as did the dialects and the accepted meaning of the word. We in Australia have the benefit of English migration with the result that the same word or phrase may have a different meaning or duplicate meaning depending on which part of England the settlers came from.

Later migration from Europe and Asia where the language and dialects are not as complicated and diverse created problems to the migrants
trying to learn and understand the English language. As a result we find many of the older generation of migrants unable to speak or comprehend the language we speak in Australia. I believe that in
New Zealand where English settlers came from a limited selection of
English counties the meaning is easier to understand.

I doubt that we will ever resolve the problem of our English language
unless we undertake to simplify it.

They say the English language is one of the most difficult. The spell-check I use gives both US and Australian, then my own cultures vowel pronunciations is again just a pig english which can go into some needing sub-titles for translation:) But I'll give it ago.

1. right, write, wright, rite
2. raise, rays, raze, rase
3. teas, tees, tease, Ts
4. seas, sees, seize, Cs
5. use, ewes, yous, Us
6. pour, pore, paw, poor
7. Wedding Vows or the word vowel as used in the sentence.

In actuality, the US speaks American, not strictly English. The original saxon language had only a couple of hundred words, most of which rhymed with ugh. Every tine we ran across something for which we had no word, we just stole whatever someone else was calling it; so words like moccasin, pizza, etc were suddenly part of our language too. It stands to reason that some sounds will overlap from one language to another, having different meanings dependent on the language we took it from.

Sorry Lexi:) I Googled most of it:) However like on another thread, IA ( Artificial Intelligence ) does take the hard work out of thinking:)

Maybe one day, humans can down-load directly to the brain. Now wont that make threads like this, just a breeze.

LEAP

Dear QL,

Thanks for your great input. Loved it.
The friend who gave me the idea for this thread and emailed me - with heaps of examples made it so much fun. She pointed out paradoxes like - quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. Then a wise man means one thing, whereas a wise guy - is the opposite. The stars are out and they are visible but when the lights are out they are invisible and an alarm goes off by going on.

Dear Aquarius,

Thanks for your post. Pronunciation and spelling in English
sometimes seem illogical or inconsistent. Many words are spelled similarly though pronounced differently. For example, cough, though, through. Other words, such as blue, crew, to, too, shoe, have similar pronounciations but are spelled differently. Many of these variations show changes that happened during the development of English. The spelling of some words remained the same for centuries, though their pronounciations changed. Old English, Middle English, and finally Modern English - are all part and parcel of the development of the language.

Daer Lexi,

It's itnsetrenig taht ploepe can siltl magane to raed wdros eevn wehn tehy are mexid up - as lnog as the frsit and lsat lrettes are in tiehr uuasl pelacs.

Poirot....you just reminded me of my grand-fathers talk with your mix & match words:)

Here is an old song bible song:)

GIN I was God, sittin' up there abeen,
Weariet nae doot noo a' my darg was deen,
Deaved wi' the harps an' hymns oonendin' ringin',
Tired o' the flockin' angels hairse wi' singin',
To some clood-edge I'd daunder furth an', feth,
Look ower an' watch hoo things were gyaun aneth.
Syne, gin I saw hoo men I'd made mysel'
Had startit in to pooshan, sheet an' fell,
To reive an' rape, an' fairly mak' a hell
O' my braw birlin' Earth,--a hale week's wark--
I'd cast my coat again, rowe up my sark,
An' or they'd time to lench a second ark,
Tak' back my word an' sen' anither spate,
Droon oot the hale hypothec, dicht the sklate,
Own my mistak', an, aince I cleared the brod,
Start a'thing ower again, gin I was God.

And here's the translation.

IF I were God, sitting up there above,
Wearied no doubt, now all my work was done,
Deafened by the harps and hymns unending ringing,
Tired of the flocking angels hoarse with singing,
To some cloud edge I'd saunter forth and, faith,
Look over and watch how things were going beneath.
Then if I saw how men I'd made myself
Had started out to poison, shoot and kill [fell],
To steal and rape and fairly make a hell
Of my fine spinning Earth -- a whole week's work --
I'd drop my coat again, roll up my shirt,
And, ere they'd time to launch a second ark,
Take back my word and send another flood [spate],
Drown out the whole shebang, wipe the slate,
Admit my mistake, and once I'd cleared the board,
Start everything ["all-thing"] over again, if I were God

My kids enjoy having fun with this site too:)

http://www.whoohoo.co.uk/scottish-translator.asp

LEAP