English is weird! http://englishisweird.com Clever tricks to conquer the quirks of English Sun, 26 Jul 2009 23:38:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Stealing from the French http://englishisweird.com/stealing-from-the-french/ http://englishisweird.com/stealing-from-the-french/#comments Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:00:41 +0000 admin http://englishisweird.com/?p=20 English has the annoying habit of taking words from other languages and twisting their meaning, usually in a subtle but drastic way. As a result, if you actually speak any of those languages, you can’t rely on this knowledge to make any assumptions about the English clone.

French is a frequent victim of this kind of word plunder. When a totally boring and mundane French word pops up in English, it suddenly takes on an intellectual and pretentious allure.

word simple meaning in French new meaning in English
facile easy overly easy, superficial
noir black, dark characterized by a bleak urban gangster setting, cynical characters and contrasty lighting
auteur author, writer a filmmaker who has creative control over their movies
soirée evening, night a fancy social gathering at a private residence
chauffeur driver a person hired to drive a privately owned car
chaise chair a long chair for reclining
]]> http://englishisweird.com/stealing-from-the-french/feed/ 3 I before E, except in all these words http://englishisweird.com/i-before-e-except-in-all-these-words/ http://englishisweird.com/i-before-e-except-in-all-these-words/#comments Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:28:17 +0000 admin http://englishisweird.com/?p=118 In English, the spelling patterns ei and ie can both represent an "ee" sound. So how do you know which one to use? For decades, English teachers have repeated the adage, ‘When the sound is "ee", it’s I before E, except after C.’

But oops, that’s not quite true. You also have to memorize the following list of exceptions:

  • being
  • caffeine
  • codeine
  • deity
  • either
  • Keith
  • leisure
  • Neil
  • neither
  • protein
  • seize
  • sheikh
  • Sheila
  • species
  • weird

Then add to the list hundreds of words ending in -cy that can change to -cies or -cied, such as currencies or fancied. A good example is oneiromancies, which breaks the rule twice! It means using dreams to predict the future.

The British government has just cought caught on to this confusion and is now asking teachers to stop using this rule.

]]> http://englishisweird.com/i-before-e-except-in-all-these-words/feed/ 3 Ed had edited it. http://englishisweird.com/ed-had-edited-it/ http://englishisweird.com/ed-had-edited-it/#comments Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:59:21 +0000 admin http://englishisweird.com/?p=114 Say that ten times fast. :)

Ed had edited it. Ed had edited it. Ed had edited it…

]]> http://englishisweird.com/ed-had-edited-it/feed/ 0 Alternatives to motherf*cking http://englishisweird.com/alternatives-to-motherfucking/ http://englishisweird.com/alternatives-to-motherfucking/#comments Mon, 25 May 2009 21:37:59 +0000 admin http://englishisweird.com/?p=90 The late American comedian George Carlin ranked motherf*cker in the top 7 most obscene words of the English language. Along with its derivative, motherf*cking, it’s become a trademark for actors like Samuel L. Jackson who portray aggressive badasses.

Of course, when a TV edit comes out, interesting changes suddenly happen:

monkey-fighting, Monday-to-Friday

Snakes on a Plane:

The best part for me is that there’s a writer out there whose job is to come up with clever substitutions for these taboo words. What a cool job for poets, phoneticians and other experts at the sounds of language. You have to keep roughly the same number of syllables and lip and tongue positions for the new word to fit smoothly over the censored one.

Here are some more popular or strange replacements for those naughty words: 

Mr. Falcon

Die Hard series:

fairy godmother

Usual Suspects:

little sucker

Pulp Fiction:

mother crusher

Robocop:

money fueller

Snakes on a Plane:

money lover, stupid sucker

Casino:

 If you know any other ones, let me know!

]]> http://englishisweird.com/alternatives-to-motherfucking/feed/ 2 Tricky twins 1 http://englishisweird.com/words-that-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-themselves/ http://englishisweird.com/words-that-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-themselves/#comments Tue, 19 May 2009 14:56:53 +0000 admin http://englishisweird.com/?p=58 Be careful. Some English words and phrases can mean the exact opposite of themselves!

anxious

  1. worried, nervous, full of dread for — I’m so anxious about the economy!
  2. eager, looking forward, full of excitement for — I’m so anxious for spring!

down with

  1. get rid of, reject — Down with the king!
  2. (slang) accepting of, in agreement with — Wanna go see a movie? I’m down with that.

liege

  1. a superior or lord — Look, my liege, Camelot!
  2. a vassal or loyal subject sworn to the service of a lord — You are all the king’s lieges.

stakeholder

  1. a person or organization with a vested interest in an issue or business
  2. a neutral person who holds the wagers in a contest and has no interest in the property held

table

  1. (British, Canadian and Australian) to submit for discussion, propose, suggest
  2. (American) to cancel discussion of, postpone, shelve

terrific

  1. excellent, superb
  2. terrifying, causing terror
]]> http://englishisweird.com/words-that-mean-the-exact-opposite-of-themselves/feed/ 4 ‑ought or ‑aught? http://englishisweird.com/how-to-spell-words-ending-in-ought-and-aught/ http://englishisweird.com/how-to-spell-words-ending-in-ought-and-aught/#comments Fri, 08 May 2009 23:38:16 +0000 admin http://englishisweird.com/?p=3 For a long time, I’ve had trouble spelling English words that end in -ought and -aught.

So I made a big list. Most of these words are past participles.

-ought

  • buy > bought
  • bring > brought
  • fight > fought
  • seek > sought
  • think > thought
  • work > wrought†

-aught:

  • catch > caught
  • distract > distraught†
  • teach > taught

Notice a pattern?

†These past participles are based on older forms.

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