Kathleen,

You are so right.

One of my favourites (sorry favorites US style) is

"I have three spoonsfull of sugar" and "I have three spoons full of sugar"

 but be careful Websters says that the plural of a spoonful is spoonfuls.

DIFFERENCES? You tell me.

Three separate spoons each full of sugar is three spoons full of sugar.

One filled spoon used three times is three spoonsful of sugar.

Oh the brain hurts now.

Roger

Hi Myrna,

English has such a varied past and that's what makes it so diverse.

Englands proximity to Europe meant that it was frequently

invaded and colonised and in turn it invaded and colonised a huge proportion of the world. The language followed and picked up words as it went. Latin, Urdu, Scananavian languages etc etc etc.

Other languages have done the same but not to such the same degree.

For some reason my cursor keeps disappearing hence the weird text, Sorry.

Roger 

Hi Luka,

Spelling is important in many ways.

I have a blog elsewhere, where I have been discussing spelling.

In technical and support booklets etc. there is no room for bad spelling.

The reasonably standard use of English e.g English, English/American etc.means that within reason, the instructions will be understood by English speakers everywhere without danger of mistake.

Literature and poetry are different. There is a case for misspelling and a case for consistency and I wont go there. However, as English is a living language there is room for change. It's evolution.

In England we now use the word Franglaise to mean a mix of both English and French and now everyone understands the non-word.

Spelling is important to be understood properly as long as you don't confuse it's ok.

Keep playing with the language though, we have family words for things which came from mistakes or from childrens words. We eat Cumboobers in salad, if I sit in te bathtub too long i get Swibbled, great words but only for s.

Didn't want to be too serious though, sorry. As you get a little older you will start to know when you need to be serious. Try to stay funloving, you don't have to be too serious ever but be prepared to be serious when needed.

You are a refreshing breath of air here. Keep it up.

Roger

Geketa,

Thanks for your post.

We are all finding sillynesses in the language. It's what makes it such a great literature-rich language.

You are an inspiration in your use of English as you have taught us so much about a different country and it's traditions by using what is now accepted as the language of the inernet.

I loved your toothbrush question. I have a question.

If you can dismantle something you should be able to mantle something, but can you?

Roger

Dimitra,

Thank you for your post.

It must be correct about Greek being difficult. If we can't understand something we say "It's all Greek to me"

What a wonderful language greek is. A wonderful history of literature and learning like few others and in my opinion along with Hebrew it is the most beautiful printed language. a page of greek looks edible.

When I was a teenager I was in love with some Greek girls in the town where I worked and as their family unit was very tight I could never get past their brothers to really speak to them. The nearest I got was to order a cup of tea. Life might have been different.

Daily useage is really the only way isn't it? if I were to live in greece for a year hopefully I would learn enough to be understood.

Roger