On the tribulations of an expatriate in Europe
Monday, October 29, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
ENGLISH TWISTS
We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes, But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not boxes. 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? If Father is Pop, how come Mother is not Mop?
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.
So it all comes to this and I think you'll back up my claim I think all the folks who grew up speaking English should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.
Thanks through the kind courtesy of Marc-Anthony.
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? If Father is Pop, how come Mother is not Mop?
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.
So it all comes to this and I think you'll back up my claim I think all the folks who grew up speaking English should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.
Thanks through the kind courtesy of Marc-Anthony.
Monday, October 08, 2007
OBITUARY - PEDRO LAYSON
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| Pedro C. "Pete" Layson | | ||||
LAYSON Pedro C. "Pete" Layson, 65, passed away October 3, 2007. He was born in Manila, Philippines and had retired as a Chief Petty Officer from the U.S. Navy. He was currently employed with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office as a Corrections Officer. He is survived by his wife, Mary; son, Peter (Tiffany) Layson; daughter, Elda (Brad) McNew; step-daughters, Amanda Humphrey and Jennifer Keith; brothers, Pablo (Sarah) Layson and Antonio Layson; sister, Teresita Layson; grandchildren, Chloe, Brooklynn, Liam, Kayla, Vanessa, Alexis and Aliyah. A service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, October 9, 2007 in the funeral home chapel. The viewing will be held beginning one hour prior to the service. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the American Heart Association. Arrangements under the direction of ETERNITY FUNERAL HOME, 4856 Oakdale Ave. Please Sign the Guestbook @ Jacksonville.com Published in the Florida Times-Union on 10/7/2007. | |||||
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Sunday, October 07, 2007
PEDRO - SEPTEMBER 14, 1942 - OCTOBER 3, 2007
A Sense of Loss
As people come and go in our lives you find out who is important in your
Life and as they leave the ones who are important to you they leave a void that
Cannot be filled by memories of them
When the time comes to say good bye you find that you dread in the fact that you
Will not be with them again in this life and as you muster the strength to face the
Long good bye a feeling of emptiness ascends upon you making you want to hold them tight not
Wanting to let them go
After they are gone a sense of loss sets in with you wishing that it were raining to hide the
Tears in your eyes and all you want to do is find a dark corner to hide in to get away from the
Pain that you feel inside
As the realization sets in of them being gone you start to accept that they are not coming back and
As time goes by the pain may seem less intense yet all the while still feeling the sense of loss
From the void and the only real comfort comes in knowing that they are truly still will us as long as we can still feel the love and remember them and keep them in out hearts
In time we find out how important they were to us through the realization that we find that we
Can still feel them with us even years later just as strongly as if they were still with us standing
Beside us and are there to bring us home when we are called to be with them again
With the kind permission of Sean Davis
As people come and go in our lives you find out who is important in your
Life and as they leave the ones who are important to you they leave a void that
Cannot be filled by memories of them
When the time comes to say good bye you find that you dread in the fact that you
Will not be with them again in this life and as you muster the strength to face the
Long good bye a feeling of emptiness ascends upon you making you want to hold them tight not
Wanting to let them go
After they are gone a sense of loss sets in with you wishing that it were raining to hide the
Tears in your eyes and all you want to do is find a dark corner to hide in to get away from the
Pain that you feel inside
As the realization sets in of them being gone you start to accept that they are not coming back and
As time goes by the pain may seem less intense yet all the while still feeling the sense of loss
From the void and the only real comfort comes in knowing that they are truly still will us as long as we can still feel the love and remember them and keep them in out hearts
In time we find out how important they were to us through the realization that we find that we
Can still feel them with us even years later just as strongly as if they were still with us standing
Beside us and are there to bring us home when we are called to be with them again
With the kind permission of Sean Davis
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