Αφού ο ήχος του φθόγγου gh στη λέξη enough προφέρεται ως f (φ) και το o στη λέξη women προφέρεται ως σύντομο i (ι) και το ti στη λέξη nation προφέρεται ως s (σ), τότε η λέξη ghoti προφέρεται όπως η λέξη fish ! Ενδιαφέρον αποτελεί ακόμα το παράδοξο ότι το εμπόρευμα σε ένα πλοίο ονομάζεται cargo, ενώ το εμπόρευμα σε ένα φορτηγό αυτοκίνητο ονομάζεται shipment !
Διαβάστε το αγγλικό κείμενο που ακολουθεί για περισσότερες στιγμές γέλιου:
There is no egg in the eggplant,
No ham in the hamburger
And neither pine nor apple in the pineapple.
English muffins were not invented in England,
French fries were not invented in France.We sometimes take English for granted, but if we examine its paradoxes we find that:
Quicksand takes you down slowly,
Boxing rings are square,
And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.If writers write, how come fingers don’t fing?
If the plural of tooth is teeth,
Shouldn’t the plural of phone booth be phone beeth?
If the teacher taught,
Why hasn’t the preacher praught?If a vegetarian eats vegetables,
What the heck does a humanitarian eat?
Why do people recite at a play,
Yet play at a recital?
Park on driveways and
Drive on parkways?
How can the weather be as hot as hell on one day
And as cold as hell on another?You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language where a house can burn up as it burns down,
And in which you fill in a form
By filling it out
And a bell is only heard once it goes!English was invented by people, not computers,
And it reflects the creativity of the human race
(Which of course isn’t a race at all.)That is why:
When the stars are out they are visible,
But when the lights are out they are invisible.
And why it is that when I wind up my watch
It starts,
But when I wind up this poem
It ends.
Μερικά παράδοξα ακόμα:
Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy
adultery?If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?
Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist, but a
person who drives a race car not called a racist?Why are a wise man and a wise guy opposites?
Why do overlook and oversee mean opposite things?
If horrific means to make horrible, does terrific mean to make
terrible?Why isn’t 11 pronounced onety one?
If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn’t it follow
that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted,
cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons
debarked and dry cleaners depressed?Why is it that if someone tells you that there are 1 billion
stars in the universe you will believe them, but
if they tell you a wall has wet paint you will
have to touch it to be sure?If you take an Oriental person and spin him around several times,
does he become disoriented?If people from Poland are called “Poles,”
why aren’t people from Holland called Holes?”
