Fun with the language

[JamesSavik]

Reading and writing in English is fraught with tricks, traps and pitfalls. I suggest we collect the fun ones here.

I'll go first:

Edited September 18, 2022 by JamesSavik

[BigBen]

The phrase "alfalfa male" caught my eye in a story, not too long ago.  Presumably he was a vegan, don't you think?

Unfortunately, autocorrect and voice-recognition software offer too many easy pickings of this sort.

Edited September 18, 2022 by BigBen

[Fae Briona]

Oh....  there's several.

The 7-word sentence who's meaning changes depending upon which word is emphasized:  "I didn't say he stole my money."

    "I didn't say..." [someone else did]

    "I didn't say..." [never made that statement]

    "I didn't say..."  [I just strongly implied it]

    "..he stole my money."  [it was someone else]

     "...he stole my money." [he just 'borrowed' it without asking]

     "...he stole my money."  [it was someone else's money]

     "...he stole my money."  [he left my $$ alone, but took something else]

 

Then a couple of also notorious ones one the multiple, often contradictory, meanings of a single word:

       "The fast boat was tied fast to the dock while the captain was fasting"

      "The first one won one one dollar bill."  [the first participant finished was awarded a single $1bill]

Edited September 18, 2022 by Fae Briona

[Palantir]

My dad had a little rhyme which intrigued me when I was a boy.

It mixed words and and numbers.

11 was a racehorse.

22 was 12

1111 race

 and 22112

[BigBen]

The sf writer, Robert A. Heinlein liked to use this sentence as an example of some of the difficulties of English:  "Though the tough cough plough him through."

[BigBen]

Re-reading the original post, it occurred to me that "kneading his ass" and "needing his ass" are different things, albeit often connected. 🤣

[JamesSavik]

On 9/18/2022 at 3:36 PM, BigBen said:

The phrase "alfalfa male" caught my eye in a story, not too long ago.  Presumably he was a vegan, don't you think?

I met an alfalfa male at the gym the other day. He was snickering at me and I asked, what?

Dude, you're like old.

Yeah, and you are worthless and weak, but I'm not ragging you about it.