Just trying to help Dept: If you ever think English is not a weird language just remember that read and lead rhyme and read and lead rhyme. But read and lead don't rhyme, and neither do read and lead. - ThreadSky

jonathanslater.bsky.social • 22 days ago

Just trying to help Dept:

If you ever think English is not a weird language just remember that read and lead rhyme and read and lead rhyme.

But read and lead don't rhyme, and neither do read and lead.

Comments

jct49.bsky.social•22 days ago

Ya lost me there Jonathan.

jct49.bsky.social•22 days ago

jonathanslater.bsky.social•22 days ago

Read it slowly

yemaya11.bsky.social•22 days ago

Nightmare for ESL students.

tracyc.bsky.social•22 days ago

It s a very hard language to learn if it's not your native one.
Harder for some that it is...

mycabbagesoo.bsky.social•22 days ago

antipunitive.bsky.social•22 days ago

wind and wind rhyme, yet wind and wind don't

mrrochester.bsky.social•22 days ago

A weird language for sure. My students like this one: the non-word “ghoti” is — using the sounds of English word construction only — “fish.” Thus: “gh” in laugh = f; “i” sound in a word like women = i; “ti” as in potion = sh. Mastering English must be so difficult for new speakers.

1blues1.bsky.social•22 days ago

My wife is all over this!!!

isinqueens.bsky.social•22 days ago

🤣❤️

ajohmss1956.bsky.social•22 days ago

'I' before 'E' except after 'C'.

Weird, huh?

emmanuelgruijs.bsky.social•22 days ago

At least it led to a discussion and reminded me I have to install a few led bulbs but haven't read the manual on how to use the right leads, which could lead to led problems.

forensicguy.bsky.social•22 days ago

This is so good!

subablitch.bsky.social•22 days ago

Also the past tense of lead is led and the past tense of read is read.

mpsmomma.bsky.social•22 days ago

...but 'red' 😁😁

subablitch.bsky.social•22 days ago

And last but not least… the newspaper lede.

mpsmomma.bsky.social•22 days ago

But is that pronounced 'lead' or 'lead'?

subablitch.bsky.social•22 days ago

It’s pronounced like lead 😂

thilde1.bsky.social•22 days ago

But there is a lot of "lead" in pipes. Maybe that's the (2nd) kind of lead he's referring to.

dawnpaints.bsky.social•22 days ago

The world is on our side.
Keep fighting!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFZHYw3shkf/?igsh=MXZ6czZuc200enNyZQ==

carol-anne.bsky.social•22 days ago

I believe I read that right and I'm not leading you on. I'm going to do some more reading later but I need to get the lead out and finish some stuff before that can happen.😂

jimbarclay.bsky.social•22 days ago

It does lack the ability for clear communication. I grew up hunting and fishing in the swamps and bayous in East Texas. It turns out that in some places, like Viet Nam, when someone shouts, “Duck!”, you don’t want to jump up looking for water fowl.

mitsnoyl.bsky.social•22 days ago

Duck or Grouse. A sign sometimes seen over low doors. (I’m not sure how well that translates into your language.)

jjrossi.bsky.social•22 days ago

Hear
Dear
Fear
Year
Near
…

Bear
Pear

susanvcbrown.bsky.social•22 days ago

Did I read that right?

jonathanslater.bsky.social•22 days ago

You may have read it right. Read it again

susanvcbrown.bsky.social•22 days ago

😆

ckulater.bsky.social•22 days ago

Sometimes I’m not even sure as a child how I learned to speak it.

05phatty.bsky.social•22 days ago

Or bomb and comb are pronounced differently yet comb and home are pronounced the same.

05phatty.bsky.social•22 days ago

Thank Gallagher. IYKYK

levelheaded101.bsky.social•22 days ago

English is the schoolyard bully of languages. It takes words from most (if not all) other languages and doesn’t share many of them with others. Inconsistencies with sentence structure, grammar and usage comes primarily from a Latin grammar applied to the Germanic English language.

mitsnoyl.bsky.social•22 days ago

I think it’s the case of the English language being bullied by others. We were quite happy speaking our ‘old English’ then along came the Romans, Vikings, Jutes, Angles, Saxons, Normans, Huguenots, etc. Then of course we have vocabulary from our Empire not to mention the USA.

levelheaded101.bsky.social•21 days ago

I believe that you are mistaken, but I understand your point of view. I believe it’s the other way around. I base my beliefs on classes I took as an English major for history of the English language. However, English professors can be prone to biases, so I understand what you’re saying.

joestradamus.bsky.social•22 days ago

I guess the plus side to English is that you can speak in many different ways in terms of sentence structure and grammar and still be understood, whereas languages with stricter structures may be less forgiving

levelheaded101.bsky.social•22 days ago

Very true! The nuance capabilities of the English language are incomparable to most others.

joestradamus.bsky.social•22 days ago

Don't have to use a specific accent to be understood either, it's spoken in every accent of the world

levelheaded101.bsky.social•22 days ago

Very good point. As long as the pronunciation is understood, the meaning is understood, if only from the context… (ie I lead the team/ the box is made of lead.)

lew-lgarf3.bsky.social•22 days ago

daxleone.bsky.social•22 days ago

🤣😂

louisongagnon.bsky.social•22 days ago

lilithindc.bsky.social•22 days ago

I saw English described as "three languages stacked on top of one another in a trenchcoat" and that's the Schrodinger's box where I've placed it in my mind

debbiecvinette.bsky.social•22 days ago

😜😂

mbcon.bsky.social•22 days ago

Weird indeed.

lynncrosby.bsky.social•22 days ago

Mind blown!

holmz9000.bsky.social•22 days ago

Also lede and read but not lede and lead or lede and lead or lede and red

stillraptor.bsky.social•22 days ago

😂

waiting74patiently.bsky.social•22 days ago

That's the glory of, that's the story of_homophones.

iaincaradoc.bsky.social•22 days ago

"...the English language is as pure as a cribhouse whore. It not only borrows words from other languages; it has on occasion chased other languages down dark alleyways, clubbed them unconscious and rifled their pockets for new vocabulary."

-- James Nicoll

barbd901.bsky.social•22 days ago

You're playing with verb tenses, "read" can be pronounced two ways and "lead" has two different pronunciations as well, one like "read" and the other like "led", it's a clever observation but not entirely accurate.

jonathanslater.bsky.social•22 days ago

I knew you’d say this. I can read your mind. I read it just now

relaxed2rp.bsky.social•22 days ago

George Carlin used to do a fun act about how we spell things that don't make sense in english, he's been gone for a long, long time.

idavemac2020.bsky.social•22 days ago

Why does that deserve the label "weird"?

You know languages are not designed (save Esperanto).
You understand the algorithms of evolution and natural selection apply.

It's a beautiful thing. I expect it is common among languages.

So there ;)

501geronimo.bsky.social•22 days ago

Real eyes realize real lies

sasokol.bsky.social•22 days ago

No one said it isn’t a weird language.

deepdownblue.bsky.social•22 days ago

You say either
I say either
You say neither
and I say neither
Either, either
neither, neither
Let's call the whole thing off
You like potato
and I like potato
You like tomato
and I like tomato
Potato, potato
tomato, tomato
Let's call the whole thing off
🤔

bourbonteddy.bsky.social•21 days ago

Let's call the whole thing off

mementomori4950.bsky.social•22 days ago

😆🙌

janeroehopeful.bsky.social•22 days ago

Don’t forget red and led.

worsethanitseems.bsky.social•22 days ago

Lead and read don't rhyme and neither do read and lead.

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