english is a funny language

There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren’t invented in England. Quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guineapig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is that writers write but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham? Doesn’t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If teachers taught, why didn’t preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? We ship by truck but send cargo by ship. We have noses that run and feet that smell. We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway. And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm goes off by going on. And, in closing, if Father is pop, how come mother’s not mop?

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abort, retry, ignore poem

The infamous Abort, Retry, Ignore message box of Windows, with no option given to close it. Found this classic and fun poem about the "Abort, Retry, Ignore" message. I have been able to trace back the source to Annoyances.org. Here it is: Once upon a midnight dreary, fingers cramped and vision bleary, System manuals piled high and wasted paper on the floor, Longing for the warmth of bed sheets, still I sat there doing spreadsheets. Having reached the bottom line I took a floppy from the drawer, I then invoked the SAVE command and waited for the disk to store, Only this and nothing more. Deep into the monitor peering, long I sat there wond'ring, fearing,  Doubting, while the disk kept churning, turning yet to churn some more.  But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token.  "Save!" I said, "You cursed mother! Save my data from before!"  One thing did the phosphors answer, only this and nothing more,  Just, "Abort...

this symbol is called a lemniscate, and other facts

The technical term for your foot "falling asleep" is "taresthesia". "Pins and needles" is really called "paresthesia". Great Britain has invaded about 90% of the world's countries. There's a brand of hand sanitizer called "Maybe You Touched Your Genitals". There was a hoax that the world was ending in 1806 because someone wrote "Christ is coming" on eggs, that were later stuffed into a hen. Gary Numan is actually 13 days older than Gary Oldman. There is a word in the English language with only one vowel, which occurs six times: Indivisibility. Los Angeles's full name is 'El Pueblo de Nuestra la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula'. Polyamorous people have invented a word to indicate the opposite feeling of jealousy - compersion. The Macrocilix maia moth confuses predators with wing patterns that mimic two flies eating bird poop. It even releases a pungent odor to drive home the dec...

pan-himalayan railroad

Chinese press is flooding with the news of China’s newest engineering feat – the completion of a railroad linking Lhasa (Tibet) with Eastern China. The country is celebrating this key achievement while the western press is once again applauding in awe and giving out mixed speculations. For example, this photo story contains some lines: “There are fears the railway will speed up the immigration of ethnic Chinese into Tibet, threatening its distinct cultural and religious identity.” “Tibetan groups and foreign critics say the railway’s real aim is political, as a symbol of China’s administrative and military control over a contested border region.” “...............................................” “..............................” All I can say about such statements is that leading people from China will undoubtedly laugh down these types of comments made by western media companies. This task in itself is a great combination of hard work, intellect and brotherhood, which in itself is a s...

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