Nuances and Idiosyncrasies of the English Language

[Cutlasshound]

Mine and @Giles favourite word.

The C Bomb. A masterclass in the idiosyncrasies of the English language distilled into a single pure, beautiful, expressive word.

[Giles]

@IrishHeart said in Nuances and Idiosyncrasies of the English Language:

@Giles laughing to Derek and Clive is one of my great memories from the 6th form common room at school.

I find it utterly unbelievable that this was broadcast in 1976......

[Tago Mago]

If I send this to my mother she'll cut me out of her will

[IrishHeart]

@Giles agreed, but that’s what made it so hilarious. None of us had heard anything like it before, and we couldn’t stop using the same terminology on our mates.

[Nocturama]

A quote for every occasion…! 🫣

For some reason, “Hamburger stands, but no fucking hamburgers” (from Joan Crawford’s ****) sticks in my head to this day!

[Kasi]

Bender..

Been out partying for 24 hours more, or weekend none stop
mash out of your head.

[EdH]

@T4920 This has reminded me of a question I have never had answered by a (proper) American:

Why is Arkansas pronounced "AR-kan-saw" and not "Ar-Kan-sas", if Kansas is pronounced just "Kan-sas"?

[SKT]

@EdH same reason some pronounce my state Missour-ee and some pronounce it Missou-rah…because we Americans don’t always make a lot of linguistic sense.

[Giles]

Same reason that if you live in Clapham, you pronounce it Clarm

[T4920]

The most definitive sign that the English language is out to troll us all is that it is linguistically sound to pronounce the town 'Loughborough' as 'Loo-gah-bah-roo-gah'

I've seen weirder place name during my time in Australia though...

[EdH]

Not saying us brits are any better... "Lieutenant" caught me out when reading aloud in English class at school:

Me: "... lieutenant ..." ("lew-ten-ant")
Teacher: "it's [lef-tenant]"
Me: "oh, it doesn't have an 'f' in my copy"
Teacher (getting angry already): "It's [lef-tenant] in English, [lew-ten-ant] is American"
Me: "oh, I must have an American translation"
Teacher: "stop being sarcastic"
Me: "I'm being sarcastic?"
Teacher: "That's a demerit"
Me: scratches head in confusion

[Oaktavia]

@T4920 hahah, yeah I've seen something similar. Maryland is close to KY but not touching.

[Oaktavia]

@EdH don't try to make sense of American pronunciation, we're super improper and make zero sense, wait till you hear me say "Maryland" at the party.

[Oaktavia]

My favorite is Appalachia pronounced regionally as "Apple-atcha" or by outsiders as "Apple-ay-shuh".

[T4920]

@Oaktavia sounds like Marilyn? I went most of my life thinking 'Marilyn' was a state after hearing Maryland pronounced that way

[seawolf]

I read recently about how it must be confusing to learn English as a second language. Imagine trying to tell the difference between a butt-dial and a booty-call.

[Oaktavia]

@T4920 that's hilarious

[louisbosco]

@seawolf you could butt-dial a booty call but not booty call a butt-dial

[EdH]

@seawolf said in Random conversations:

Imagine trying to tell the difference between a butt-dial and a booty-call.

A fat-chance and a slim-chance are the same thing...
Tooth/teeth, but not booth/beeth
Mouse/mice, but not house/hice
etc, etc

English is such a bastardised and influenced language that it's apparently very hard to learn as a second language or as an adult. I've got a Ukrainian friend who, even after marrying a Brit over 20 years ago, and him not bothering to learn her language, still makes grammatical errors like the above.

[Giles]

Plural of Salmon is Salmon not Salmons
Same with Trout, Cod, Tuna etc etc

But the plural of Ray is Rays
Same with Sharks, Whales,

Is that because Rays, Sharks and Whales are either cartilaginous or mammalian?