RAMBLINGS - The Hong Kong Brother

The Wonders of English

Every now and again I find some articles or jokes about the English language, and I'm going to start posting the cool ones here.

. . .

This first one blows me away:

Aoccdrnig to rseearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteers are at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by itslef but the wrod as a wlohe.. .

I asked several HK people to try reading that, because I wondered if it was only valid for native speakers -- NOPE, they all read it perfectly with no trouble at all. Isn't that wild?

. . .

HK people are always telling me how hard Cantonese is, and how I shouldn't bother trying (which makes me wonder why they are so anxious to talk me out of learning their language -- it's just sort of funny at first, but after a while I start asking, geez, what are they afraid of? Surely they aren't talking about me in front of my face THAT much?!?).

Anyway, YES, Cantonese is difficult -- but here are some good examples of why English is pretty difficult to learn, too:

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 must 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 . I did not object to the object.
9 . There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
10. They were too close to the door to close it.
11 . Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
12 . How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
13 . I shed my clothes in the shed.

This article was first posted: 29 January 2004

Here are some of the things I think about:

*Yo-Yo, Ma?*	*The Human Touch*
*If Me Is A Dog*	*I Walked A Mile With Pleasure*
*What's The Rush? (Part 1)*	*What Are Missionaries Like?*
*What's The Rush? (Part 2)--Rated "PG"*	*Is That Your Final Answer?*
*The NEW Yo-Yo's*	*A Rose By Any Other Name*
*Hair Like Osama*	*True Patriots of the P.R.O.C.?*
*Buying The Onion*	*Lip Van Winker*
*Eat Like You're Hungry*	*Celebrity Heads*
*Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow*	*Things I'm Thankful For*
*The Water Bicycles of Tin Shui Wai*	*My Biggest Fan*
*CD Firecrackers*	*Shaolin Kung Fu*
*Hot Pants*	*Junk E-mail*
*China's Next Great Leap*	*Internet Time*
*Don't Drink The Water*	*May I Touch Your Guts, Please?*
*A Death In Hong Kong*	*Love Kites*
*Introverts: UNITE!*	*Overdos (of cool)*
*The Wonders of English*	*Solo And The City*
*Writing 2004 -- #1: "The Third Eye"*	*The Politics Of Masking*
*Writing 2004 -- #2: "The Time Machine"*	*Tiananmen Mothers*
*Everything's Fake In China!!*	*What's Up, Doc?*
*BEN's TEAM -- 2004*

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