Friday, January 30, 2009

Friday funny - on the English language

I found this thought provoking article this morning in an email from a training company's newsletter

Language (1) The English Language!

"At present, this article presents a present, presented in the form of a presentation that presents the present use of the English language, which represents the present."

We take English for granted.

There is no egg in eggplant or ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France.

Paradoxes.

We find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

Why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?

If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices?

Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend, that you comb through annals of history but not a single annal? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? If you wrote a letter, perhaps you bote your tongue?

Madness?

Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? Park on driveways and drive on parkways?

Food for thought

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike? Have you noticed that we talk about certain things only when they are absent? Have you ever seen a horseful carriage or a strapful gown? Met a sung hero or experienced requited love? Have you ever run into someone who was combobulated, gruntled, ruly or peccable? And where are all those people who are spring chickens or who would actually hurt a fly?

Humor

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.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (which, of course, isn't a race at all). That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it?

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

New Guitar

My good friend Furtheron offered me first refusal at buying one of his guitars as he has bought a new one and needed to make space, raise funds etc by disposing of one of his rather large collection. Well it is rather large in the eyes of his wife and indeed mine who don't seem to understand the need for multiple instruments. OMG I have just had a horrible thought in which I saw Mrs Furtheron and Mrs DeeJay gettting together to discuss the subject - oh please save us!!!

Well as I say being a good friend of mine, how could I let Furtheron down? He brought the guitar into work yesterday and I was immediately smitten. This is a 'real' guitar compared to the "cheapo" that I bought when I started this journey into music almost a year ago. AND it shows! I took it home and last night I had the best practice session I have ever had. Did the guitar do that or is it simply a state of mind knowing that I now have a decent tool in the toolbox? As Furtheron reminded me this morning the other point is that I can no longer blame my inferior guitar for bad playing :-(

So here it is my new Gibson Les Paul, lovingly cared for for the past 5 years by Furtheron and I hope I can treat it and eventually play it as well as he did.



Monday, January 19, 2009

Kindness Award

I have been given a 'Kindness award' by my good blogging friend Merely Me
From someone who has so many issues in her life that most of us cannot even understand I take this as a wonderful compliment - Thank you Merely Me


The small print says "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted"
Something we all need to be reminded of from time to time - unfortunately some more often than others!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

ABC Wednesday - Z

Z is for Zebras in Tanzania but you just knew it would be didn't you?)

These 'donkeys in pyjamas' were snapped in the Tarangire National Park.
I had never realised just how brown some of them are - you always think of them as black and white.


These, also in Tarangire, were peacefully grazing among a small herd of Wildebeest (most of them had already migrated to the Masai Mara in Kenya)


These photograped in the Lake Mayanara Park were heading back to their night time resting site at sunset.

If you want to participate in ABC Wednesday Round 3, then pop along to Mrs Nesbitt's blog of the same name and either share some of your own photos or simply visit the other participants and enjoy their stunning photos

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

ABC Wednesday - Y

Y is for YUCCA Plant
This one in our garden has flowered for the past 3 years now and is quite stunning not only in its colours but also in its rate of growth




If you want to participate in ABC Wednesday Round 3, then pop along to Mrs Nesbitt's blog of the same name and either share some of your own photos or simply visit the other participants and enjoy their photos

New Year funny