I have always thought the English language was quite funny.
No, scratch that. Not funny. The expression is ‘stoically hilarious’! I believe
that the English as a people are probably quite pissed that everybody around
the globe has autonomy over their language, using it in whatever manner they
wish, making changes as they go without so much as consulting with them every
time they do so. And so, in their uppity-shmuppity way, they probably have
designed the language is such a fashion that it will drive all non-indigenous
English speakers up the wall with hair-tearing uncertainty every time they use
certain words or phrases.
Why do I say this? This morning out of the blue and for no
apparent reason, I was left wondering if “nullify” relates to “null”, how come “rectify”
does not relate to “rectum’? Well, I’m sure all of us have at one point of time
or the other found that a word that seems so innocuous can seem outrageous.
Much has been said about the number of idiosyncrasies in the
English language that make it extremely baffling and amusing at the same time.
For example, if the plural of “box” is “boxes” why is the plural of “ox” –
oxen? If ‘vegetarians’ eat vegetables, what do ‘humanitarians’ eat? Cut, Nut,
But, Gut and Hut have their own snooty club that bars poor ‘Put’ from being one
of them.
There are times when if we twirl an oft-used word around our tongues, we find that the word has suddenly lost meaning, refusing to make sense even if we gave it the mental third degree. A normal word, something you wouldn’t have given second thought to in most cases, suddenly appears to revolt and demand unnecessary attention. These psycholinguistics, I say! Enough to drive any sane person psycho…
And then there are words that mean different things in
different scenarios. Say, “How do I intimate
this to my most intimate friend that
his nose ‘runs’ and his feet ‘smell’? Tough one, that.
As Asterix and Obelix would have rightly pointed out “These English are crazy!” Toc.Toc.Toc…
