The Absurdities of the English Language

Words that are spelled similarly should (maybe) sound the same, but:

"I take it you already know
Of tough and bough and cough and dough?"
Quoted by Vivian Cook and Melvin Bragg 2004,
by Richard Krogh, in D Bolinger & D A Sears, Aspects of Language, 1981,


MacKenzie was telling me about the difficulty people have learning the English language. She has taken a bit of French and German.

She pointed me to a couple fun websites that prove her point. If you want to look at a few poems that point out the oddities found in our spelling, look here.

ANSWER TO THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY AND EARTH-FRIENDLY FRIDAY

ANSWER TO THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY: JOHN WAYNE


Earth-Friendly Friday: Here's a great website with lots of helpful information if you want to GO GREEN in 2009. You can click around the site and learn some helpful information but you can begin with their five initiatives listed below.

The five initiatives for the Go Green Project:

1. Generate compost. This is nature's way of recycling. Through basic and worm composting programs, children learn about ecology, biology and waste reduction.
2. Recycle everything that cannot be reused and purchase items that can be recycled. With fast shrinking landfill space and diminishing natural resources, recycling has never been more important. Recycling items such as paper, plastic, aluminum and ink cartridges reduces toxic greenhouse gas emissions and conserves energy. Manage E-waste by finding creative solutions to divert obsolete computer parts, cell phones and other such devices from the waste stream. Schools that recycle provide much-needed materials to manufacturers who produce recycled products.
3. Educate students, teachers and parents on environmentally-responsiblebehavior. When students, teachers and parents work together to make their schools environmentally friendly, they are more likely to take the same behaviors into their off campus lives. Our goal is to create environmentally-responsible school communities throughout the nation and across the globe.
4. Evaluate the environmental impact of every activity. Identify products and practices that could threaten the health of children and the world around them. Consider improving the campus environment with activities such as eliminating excessive energy consumption; evaluating the toxicity of pesticides used in classrooms and on playgrounds; improving outdoor air quality through increased carpooling efforts; and working to improve indoor air quality.
5. Nationalize the principles of responsible paper consumption. Consider purchasing post consumer recycled paper and office products. Use technology to communicate electronically as much as possible. Seek ways to provide Internet access to all school families.