You may have already seen
the following list floating around the Internet, but a colleague of mine at
Kalmbach Publishing Co., who is an editor at Classic Trains, recently sent it
around and I found it amusing. Enjoy. --Ron Kovach, senior editor, The Writer
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 to refuse more refuse.
4) We can polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present
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 the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close 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 wind the 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?
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NewtonSaber
wrote
re: Our crazy language
on
Thu, Jun 2 2011 9:18 PM
These are really good examples of why authors must scrutinize every word they write in order to create smooth reading. I remember reading 'The Sun Also Rises' and constantly stumbling upon the word row as characters argued. Hemingway overuses the word in that book.
I _bow_ to the author of this list. It is as if s/he wrapped up a gift of writing and put a _bow_ on it. :-)
~Newton Saber
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NewtonSaber
wrote
re: Our crazy language
on
Wed, Jun 8 2011 10:58 PM
Here's another I thought of today:
Creating the duplicate requires that we duplicate every part.
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NewtonSaber
wrote
re: Our crazy language
on
Thu, Jun 9 2011 5:13 PM
I thought of another today:
If you two boys don't behave I will separate you and put you into two separate rooms.
Also, why do we drive on parkways and park in driveways? It's all so cornfusing. :-)
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writeright
wrote
re: Our crazy language
on
Wed, Jul 27 2011 5:22 PM
I'm still confused about #6. Is English really this difficult or have I just not thought about it in this way before?
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