The English language is stupid.

[Wacky Racer]

I was thinking about this the other day, like you do.

For anyone trying to learn our language from scratch, and spell it correctly it must be a nightmare.

For example:-

Wouldn't

Why not Woodent or Woodant?


Yacht

Why not Yot?


Keep things simple surely?

[SKP555]

It's mind bogglingly complicated in many ways.

Why do you get in a car but on a train?

[ZOLLAR]

Wacky Racer said:

I was thinking about this the other day, like you do.

For anyone trying to learn our language from scratch, and spell it correctly it must be a nightmare.

For example:-

Wouldn't

Why not Woodent or Woodant?


Yacht

Why not Yot?


Keep things simple surely?

After reading the Facebook Thread I firmly believe the underclasses are moving the English language in the direction you mention.

[ZOLLAR]

SKP555 said:

It's mind bogglingly complicated in many ways.

Why do you get in a car but on a train?

I've never thought of that good point.

[Du1point8]

Wacky Racer said:

I was thinking about this the other day, like you do.

For anyone trying to learn our language from scratch, and spell it correctly it must be a nightmare.

For example:-

Wouldn't

Why not Woodent or Woodant?


Yacht

Why not Yot?



Keep things simple surely?

Why is Finnish not easier to understand and learn? Is phonetic as you mention, in fact its one of the phonetic languages going.

[dxg]

James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher

[elanfan]

Keep up the standards dear chap you don't want us to turn into Amerikunz do you?

[miniman]

Wacky Racer said:

For example:-

Wouldn't

Why not Woodent or Woodant?

Because it's simply would not with the 'o' removed.

[Beati Dogu]

Yacht is from a foreign word (Dutch or German I think) for a small, fast boat (yacht / Jager = hunter).

[davepoth]

Wacky Racer said:

I was thinking about this the other day, like you do.

For anyone trying to learn our language from scratch, and spell it correctly it must be a nightmare.

For example:-

Wouldn't

Why not Woodent or Woodant?

Because it is a contraction.

Would not
Wouldnot
Wouldn't

Perfectly logical.

Wacky Racer said:

Yacht

Why not Yot?

Because of pirates. The etymology of the word is from the Dutch word for a pirate ship jaghtschipp, literally "Hunting Ship".

Keep things simple surely?

Simple is boring. One might say that all of the complications and loan phrases give English a certain Je ne sais quois.

[Eric Mc]

Wacky Racer said:

I was thinking about this the other day, like you do.

For anyone trying to learn our language from scratch, and spell it correctly it must be a nightmare.

For example:-

Wouldn't

Why not Woodent or Woodant?


Yacht

Why not Yot?

Keep things simple surely?

Are ANY languages logical?

And why do you want logic anyway? Surely, it's the illogical things about life that make it interesting - unless you are a Vulcan, of course.

[227bhp]

If you want simplicity go live in America, they've dumbed it down so they can understand it.

As an aside, do we have to have this same topic every month?

[Wacky Racer]

227bhp said:

As an aside, do we have to have this same topic every month?

I must have mist the uther ones....

[Vocal Minority]

Tough v Slough v through

Good - better - best

or

Fast - faster - fastest.


Our language is complicated, often illogical and daft.

It's a testament to the sort of influence Britain had that it is spread so widely - because it's certainly not because English is user friendly!

[Chris944_S2]

It's well known that English is one of the most difficult western European language to pronounce when just reading it. Other aspects of the language are much simpler. Far from being stupid, to me that gives the language its richness and makes it more interesting.

As to learning it, well it depends on their background. Someone who knows Latin will pick up English much easier than someone who knows Sanskrit. Most oddities are remnants of older languages and got carried down throughout its evolution (or creationism of languages if you're a god botherer).

[RicharDC5]

English is one of the better languages for exchanging information accurately. Part of that may be due to the complexity, but I don't know enough about languages to know for sure.

Miscommunication, and orders which were open to interpretation were problematic for the Japanese during WW2 for example.

[Chris944_S2]

RicharDC5 said:

English is one of the better languages for exchanging information accurately. Part of that may be due to the complexity, but I don't know enough about languages to know for sure.

Miscommunication, and orders which were open to interpretation were problematic for the Japanese during WW2 for example.

Not really, English is tricky for foreigners as it contains a lot of nuances. If your boss starts a sentence with "It would be nice if...", that's usually an order to do something. Try saying that to a German, and nothing will happen because you didn't tell him directly to do it. They are much more literal and precise.
As Charles V used say "I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men and German to my horse".

[CanAm]

Vocal Minority said:

Tough v Slough v through

Good - better - best

or

Fast - faster - fastest.


Our language is complicated, often illogical and daft.

It's a testament to the sort of influence Britain had that it is spread so widely - because it's certainly not because English is user friendly!

Good - better - best

Bueno mejor mejor
Bien mieux meilleur
Buono meglio migliore
Gut besser besten
Goed beter best

So we're not the only ones. The verb 'to be' is pretty irregular in most (European) languages too.

[Eric Mc]

Chris944_S2 said:

As Charles V used say "I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men and German to my horse".

And I use English when I'm posting on the Internet.

[RicharDC5]

Chris944_S2 said:

RicharDC5 said:

English is one of the better languages for exchanging information accurately. Part of that may be due to the complexity, but I don't know enough about languages to know for sure.

Miscommunication, and orders which were open to interpretation were problematic for the Japanese during WW2 for example.

Not really, English is tricky for foreigners as it contains a lot of nuances. If your boss starts a sentence with "It would be nice if...", that's usually an order to do something. Try saying that to a German, and nothing will happen because you didn't tell him directly to do it. They are much more literal and precise.
As Charles V used say "I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men and German to my horse".

I agree that language is only as accurate as the people using it. The point is that when used in a concise way (in the military for my example), English isn't as open to interpretation as some other languages.