Αυτό μου ήρθε στο μέιλ σήμερα και το παραθέτω αυτούσιο. Έχει την πλάκα του, αλλά κατά τη γνώμη μου έχει και γλωσσικό ενδιαφέρον και δεν θα με πείραζε να το δω ξεχωριστό νήμα, όπου θα ρίχνουμε όλοι τις ριπές μας... :)
Why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? 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 of them but one, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why can't you say that preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? English is really weird, I mean, in what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?
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.
Why is that when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible?