Twisted Words

English—or as Sarah Palin says: American—is a difficult language.  All those silent letters and weird spellings.  To this day, I cannot understand why cough is not coff. 

I think it needs a double “f” because coffing is annoying.

Annoying is annoying.  It has a double “n.”

I got to thinking about the English language while drinking my coughy this morning.  How did the language develop so many quirks, I wonder?

 

You have homographs such as the word lead—which could be a type of metal or could be a reference to going out in front.  Homographs are words that share the same spelling but sound different and have different meanings.

Homophones are not land lines as you might guess, but are, instead, words that sound the same but have different spellings and different meanings.  Example: to, two, too.  And do girls wear two-toos?  No.  They wear tutus.

If you write the proper right in a sentence, you have encountered a homonym.  These are words that are both homograph and homophone.  Homonyms sound the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings.

What got me started on all this was something one of the talking heads said on television.  Most mornings, I watch political stuff as I drink my first cup or two of coughy.   Today, a bunch of know-it-alls were discussing the upcoming presidential election.  One of them said something like: “a possible running mate was discussed” (for one of the candidates).

I have heard that phrase before, actually.

It totally cracks me up!

Here is how I hear it: “a possible running mate was disgust.”  

--Mitchell Hegman