http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-51246-1.htm

I dont know whether the link will work, I was writing about our time spend in your country.
otherwise please go to my topic "please dont read unless you have a lot of time.
Tonight I came across the song "seven spanish angles" and it reminded me of my poor knowledge of your language back then. I loved that song and wanted to figure out the meaning of the lyrics so badly.
But to this day I dont know where the SEVEN SPANISH ANGLES come from ..........
Btw: I love the version of Ray Charles and Willie Nelson

Any explonation on seven spanish angles??

Found this story ...
http://jesus-messiah.com/html/cloud-hoax.html

I just got this in an e mail today about the English language I found it quite funny but it is true!!

I find this very interesting.......




We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?


If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England .


We take English for granted, but if we explore its 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.

And why is it 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 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?


Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

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?

Now who said the English language isn't confusing?? not me.

Dear upNorth

I am sure that you are fully aware that you only add to my confusion...................

Sorry! LOL It is a very confusing language we speak!!

indeed it is :lol:
But my worst experience was my childrens plural of foot. They said foots instead of feed ( pronouced like the worst german word for the the female genitale.....................) and all my new neighbours did not understand why I was jumping

I had posted in another thread (what are you reading) that I am currently reading (listening to actually) "The Adventure of English" by Melvyn Bragg. The book discusses the evolution of the English language. He mentioned, and read, the poem above. Thanks for the reminder of the poem - I had wanted to ask my husband if it was true that it used to be in every English schoolroom.

If your interested in the language - I highly recommend the book. I am loving it and non-fiction is not my usual cup of tea. It's absolutely fascinating.

My daughter loves languages, (She speaks two and reads more) and says that the English language is the hardest to learn.