The english language is so odd

[fury]

I mean, think about it. What's the difference between "Neither" (pronounced nee-ther) and "Neither" (pronounced ny-ther)

If there is no difference, why have both pronunciations?

And why are there two different meanings for so many words?

Bass - one form of bass is a low-pitch tone, and another is a type of fish.
Bowl - one form of bowl is to perform in the sport called bowling, another is a hemispherical vessel, wider than it is deep, used for holding food or fluids, yet another is any of various postseason games played between specially selected teams, especially at the college level, and another is to move quickly and smoothly, especially by rolling
Ball - One is a formal dance party, another is a vulgar slang for having sexual intercourse , yet another is a spherical object or entity, some forms of which are used for many sports including bowling and baseball.
Speaking of base - One is the lowest or bottom part of an object, another is the fact, observation, or premise from which a reasoning process is begun, yet another is a fortified center of operations, and another is one end of the pH scale.

These are just a few of many words containing multiple meanings. Why does the English language have to be so odd, or rather how did it ever get to be so odd?

 

[kuulani]

because English is backwards

 

[75renegade]

HEY FUR?..........

R ya tryin' to admit y'ave got NO "softspot" fer a pretty young Lass with with a hopeless English accent? Mean ya wouldn't wanna dip yer "crumpet" in 'er tea"? Don't lie to me, bro...

 

[oypid]

mein Englisch ist nicht gut

 

[Gonzo]

Unfortunately, nobody here speaks enough German to help, but welcome anyway.

Leider spricht niemand hier genug deutsches mit Hilfe, aber Willkommen irgendwie.

 

[Gonzo]

Adding to the English shortcomings-

Reverse Racism (isn't that racial cohesion?)

 

[PsychoMark]

Why does the English language have to be so odd

Have you ever tried dutch?

 

[Inkara1]

I look at American English a lot the same way as I look at the United States government.

The US Government was put together before most of what it has to deal with ever came into being.
English was invented before the things that a large chunk of the words in it now to describe them came into being.

The US Government started off as an evolution of other governmental systems, taking some of the good ideas from other governments and incorporating new ideas.
English is one of the Germanic languages, if memory serves, so it too evolved from what came before.

As the US Government has had to adapt to changing times, shit's just been thrown together, pasted onto what worked before like new roof shingles on top of old ones, making the roof thicker and heavier each time. We've ended up with a multi-thousand-page tax code and laws that contradict each other.
As English has evolved with the times, words have just been added in, and we've ended up with two or more words that sometimes mean the same damn thing, and sometimes one word doing two or more jobs.

Now, here's the biggie:
The US Government takes years of study in high school and college, a political science Bachelor's and Master's degree, and years of insider experience to understand... and even then, you'd still find crazy shit every day that you can't explain.
And English... well, every high school graduate has studied it for 13 years, and even after all that most have no idea how the fuck to use even the most basic aspects of the language correctly.

 

[fury]

Good one. Glad I'm not wasting my time on U.S. Government then.

 

[Tancogeistla]

It couldn't be a typo, as the 48-1 and the 98% percentage jive. So it's pure baloney.

 

[PsychoMark]

I've been surfing for 5 minutes on these forums and I've seen 4 posts of you which don't make sense. Can someone ban him or anything? He's starting to annoy me...

 

[Tancogeistla]

Exactly! I wish I'd said that!

 

[fury]

<--- But I AM banned! (look at my user title)