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What do you hate about English?

Archive: 41 posts

The English language is... Well, it's just horrid! If you make a post longer than 500 words, there's 95% probability there's a spelling error, grammatical error, missing comma or a missing capital letter in there somewhere. What things do you hate about English?

I hate the fact that before you say the correlative "that" there is no comma, but when you say "which" or "who" then suddenly there needs to be one! Like, what sense does that make? What purpose does that serve?!

Okay, your turn.


This thread was not designed to hate the English people, but feel free to judge their excessive consumption of fish & chips, as well as their damp little island all you want.		2013-09-06 14:25:00

Author:
FreeAim
Posts: 2462

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iewQ45wJ7JA2013-09-06 14:50:00

Author:
gdn001
Posts: 5891

As a native English speaker, I can imagine it being confusing for non-native speakers when there are words such as 'live', which can be pronounced in two different ways (with an 'i' as in 'pin', and with an 'i' as in 'kind&apos, each having a different meaning eg "I live" and "Next week I'm seeing Miley Cyrus live in concert". (Disclaimer - I'm not actually seeing her live in concert!)

We also have the 'ough' sound which has several different pronounciations - through (oo), though (oh), trough (off), thought (aw)

There's also the differences between American English and British English eg 'centre' (the correct spelling) and 'center' (the silly American spelling ), 'colour' (English) and 'color' (American).

But at least we don't assign a gender to each object. 		2013-09-06 15:02:00

Author:
Ali_Star
Posts: 4085

first let's talk about the BOLD text you have there
This is one of my favorite writings on the subject.



The bandage was wound around the wound.

The farm was used to produce produce.

The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

He could lead if he would get the lead out.

The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to
present the present.

A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

I did not object to the object.

There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

They were too close to the door to close it.

The buck does funny things when the does are present.

A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

After a number of injections my jaw got number.

Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England nor French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.


We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 mees e? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend, that you comb through annals of history but not a single annal? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?


Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Park on driveways and drive on parkways? Have noses that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm goes off by going on.


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, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it? English is a silly language - it doesn't know if it is coming or going.		2013-09-06 15:18:00

Author:
biorogue
Posts: 8424

What I hate about it is that there are some rules they made, but have millions of words that break that word. (There are more words that break the "I before e, except after c" rule than follow it)2013-09-06 21:18:00

Author:
TheUltraDeino
Posts: 1274

I hate that that that can make sense in this sentence.2013-09-06 23:31:00

Author:
flamingemu
Posts: 1872

I can't seem to pronounce aren't properly. Seriously, /ɑːrnt/ ? An -n in the middle of a consonant cluster, how is this even possible? I think I'll be better off pronouncing it /'ɑːrɜnt/ with two syllabes.

Apart from that, it's a ****** language! 		2013-09-07 08:18:00

Author:
Oddmania
Posts: 1305

An -n in the middle of a consonant cluster, how is this even possible?

Are you okay?		2013-09-07 08:29:00

Author:
FreeAim
Posts: 2462

I can't seem to pronounce aren't properly. Seriously, /ɑːrnt/ ? An -n in the middle of a consonant cluster, how is this even possible? I think I'll be better off pronouncing it /'ɑːrɜnt/ with two syllabes.

Apart from that, it's a ****** language!

I can't see how that can be problematic. You don't pronounce the 'e', so it's kinda like "arnt".

How do you non-native English speakers feel about silent letters? eg in the word 'gnome'? Do you have silent letters in your respective languages?		2013-09-07 10:21:00

Author:
Ali_Star
Posts: 4085

I hate the word "y'all." It makes me want to put those people back in preschool. It's not a word and it makes you sound extremely uneducated.2013-09-07 10:53:00

Author:
ConverseFox
Posts: 2333

I can't see how that can be problematic. You don't pronounce the 'e', so it's kinda like "arnt".

How do you non-native English speakers feel about silent letters? eg in the word 'gnome'? Do you have silent letters in your respective languages?

They are all okay. Once you get the hang of pronouncing different letter combinations (which takes about 7 years), it turns pretty easy to assume how some things are pronounced. (Though I have heard somewhere that GOTHI is spelled the same as FISH.)

In Finnish, we don't leave letters out. However, sometimes we add some. Such as the word: "Syd?mellinen" (translated "Heartfelt") is pronounced with two m's. That's one of the rare exceptions, though. We mostly pronounce like we write.

However, English is absolutely horrid, sometimes.		2013-09-07 11:20:00

Author:
FreeAim
Posts: 2462

Enough
Women
Eductation

GHOTI = fish		2013-09-07 12:35:00

Author:
flamingemu
Posts: 1872

I can't see how that can be problematic. You don't pronounce the 'e', so it's kinda like "arnt".

How do you non-native English speakers feel about silent letters? eg in the word 'gnome'? Do you have silent letters in your respective languages?

That's actually pretty cool! Silent letters make words easier to pronounce, like psychopath, climb, doubt.

Still, I've got to admit languages like Spanish or Japanese are quite fun to learn, because you can't really mispronounce a word.

On the other hand, French is full of silent letters. Most of the time it's just an -S or an -E at the end of a word, but sometimes it's a whole group of letters! You'd write Ils marchent ("They walk"), but you'd say Il march.

However, what I do love about about languages are homophones, anagrams, and all those things. Did you know the words sea, mother and mayor sound the same in French?		2013-09-07 12:54:00

Author:
Oddmania
Posts: 1305

My native language is Spanish and naturally the thing that was harder for me to learn about English is the tricky pronunciation as you guys mentioned earlier. Learning pronunciation for Spanish is so easy! You can't mispronounce a word most of the times.

Anyway, the grammar in English is a piece of cake compared to Spanish's grammar. By far. Oh god by far.		2013-09-07 14:51:00

Author:
yugnar
Posts: 1478

Holy crap, I could've sworn most of you were native English speakers (wait, auto-correct just got angry at me. "Could've" isn't a usable contraction?).

Anyway, I can't really complain about English, seeing as I don't speak any other languages and therefore have nothing to compare it to.		2013-09-08 21:30:00

Author:
Ryan86me
Posts: 1909

Holy crap, I could've sworn most of you were native English speakers (wait, auto-correct just got angry at me. "Could've" isn't a usable contraction?).

Anyway, I can't really complain about English, seeing as I don't speak any other languages and therefore have nothing to compare it to.

I did 4 years of compulsory French and then 1 year of Spanish (either you did French, German or you did something like skill force or the Duke of EdInburgh award.) and I can't remember much of the French the Spanish is slowly fading from my mind. All I can remember is pollo=chicken and patatas fritas= chips/French fries. I can't exactly complain that much since its the only language I can speak fluently. If you have a problem with words blame the French/Germans/Scandinavians/Greeks. If those words you find annoying aren't of that origin blame Britain/America etc.

However , annoy me. Really, I'm still not sure if I can use it properly (and I've started higher English)		2013-09-08 22:40:00

Author:
Shooter0898
Posts: 996

I did 4 years of compulsory French and then 1 year of Spanish (either you did French, German or you did something like skill force or the Duke of EdInburgh award.) and I can't remember much of the French the Spanish is slowly fading from my mind. All I can remember is pollo=chicken and patatas fritas= chips/French fries. I can't exactly complain that much since its the only language I can speak fluently. If you have a problem with words blame the French/Germans/Scandinavians/Greeks. If those words you find annoying aren't of that origin blame Britain/America etc.

However , annoy me. Really, I'm still not sure if I can use it properly (and I've started higher English)
Commas (Aka , symbols) annoy everybody, trust me. I'm a native English speaker, and I still find myself wondering whether or not I'm using commas correctly all the time.		2013-09-08 22:47:00

Author:
Ryan86me
Posts: 1909

Commas (Aka , symbols) annoy everybody, trust me. I'm a native English speaker, and I still find myself wondering whether or not I'm using commas correctly all the time.

Wait languages evolve and change don't they. Well, this where we start the fight back let us change English into LBPClish and change the short-comings of English.

Also auto-correct changed commings to comings. But wait shopping, trotting. It adds one one on for the rest? Wait in that case falling must be fallling.		2013-09-08 22:57:00

Author:
Shooter0898
Posts: 996

LBPClish?

Yes, I can see it now. Only thing is, curse words are censored, so we'll have to come up with our own shadoopin words to replace them. That'll be really prapapa tough.		2013-09-08 23:10:00

Author:
Ryan86me
Posts: 1909

Commas (Aka , symbols) annoy everybody, trust me. I'm a native English speaker, and I still find myself wondering whether or not I'm using commas correctly all the time.

I, have, no, idea, what, you're, talking, about, commas, are, perfectly, fine,		2013-09-09 00:01:00

Author:
TheUltraDeino
Posts: 1274

Wait languages evolve and change don't they. Well, this where we start the fight back let us change English into LBPClish and change the short-comings of English.

Also auto-correct changed commings to comings. But wait shopping, trotting. It adds one one on for the rest? Wait in that case falling must be fallling.

public conversation AnotherLanguageSuggestion()
{
----public statement whatLanguage(Person reader)
----{
--------if(reader.getProgrammingKnowledge() == true)
--------{
------------return "Talking in C based language would be rad.";
--------}else{
------------return "Sorry this may be too complicated to you folks. ";
--------}
----}
----private observation aboutTheWhiteLines()
----{
--------return "About the white lines, they're to keep the code indentation safe.";
----}
}

//This took more work than the rest of my weekend		2013-09-09 00:21:00

Author:
gdn001
Posts: 5891

public conversation AnotherLanguageSuggestion()
{
----public statement whatLanguage(Person reader)
----{
--------if(reader.getProgrammingKnowledge() == true)
--------{
------------return "Talking in C based language would be rad.";
--------}else{
------------return "Sorry this may be too complicated to you folks. ";
--------}
----}
----private observation aboutTheWhiteLines()
----{
--------return "About the white lines, they're to keep the code indentation safe.";
----}
}

//This took more work than the rest of my weekend

Not gonna lie, but that'd be a good concept for a forum game		2013-09-09 00:53:00

Author:
TheUltraDeino
Posts: 1274

Phlegm = Flem... there is no God!2013-09-09 03:09:00

Author:
Ironface
Posts: 432

w4tz 3nGl1sH I 0nLy sp33k l337!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!2013-09-09 04:52:00

Author:
DominationMags
Posts: 1840

eeh... bit late on this thread but, why would you hate english? my native language is spanish, learned english, half learned french, and now im learning german, and english has to be the easiest out of all of them...2013-09-09 10:09:00

Author:
Ragnarok
Posts: 898

As a portuguese-belgian to whom English is a third language... English is awesome! The grammar is easy to understand and doesn't have any nonsensically complex rules. Words aren't hard to pronounce. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyjafjallajokull) It's a simple language yet incredibly broad in scope, and extremely versatile. There's a reason people speak it internationally.

Sometimes I'm looking for adjectives to describe something, and I can think of an english word that serves perfectly and captures the nuances of what I'm trying to convey. But I can't find an appropriate translation in either Portuguese or Dutch! Isn't it amazing?

I've begun learning German earlier this year. One of the very first grammar lessons had us memorizing 16 definite articles. After that, I really came to appreciate the beautiful simplicity of English, which uses one definite article for all situations. Non-native speakers never need to guess the gender of a noun or the grammatical case of a word. We just use the word "the" for everything; other people can deduce gender, case and wether it's singular or plural from context. It's brilliant.

So, what I hate about English? Nothing at all! 		2013-09-10 00:18:00

Author:
SnipySev
Posts: 2452

As a portuguese-belgian to whom English is a third language... English is awesome! The grammar is easy to understand and doesn't have any nonsensically complex rules. Words aren't hard to pronounce. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyjafjallajokull) It's a simple language yet incredibly broad in scope, and extremely versatile. There's a reason people speak it internationally.

Sometimes I'm looking for adjectives to describe something, and I can think of an english word that serves perfectly and captures the nuances of what I'm trying to convey. But I can't find an appropriate translation in either Portuguese or Dutch! Isn't it amazing?

I've begun learning German earlier this year. One of the very first grammar lessons had us memorizing 16 definite articles. After that, I really came to appreciate the beautiful simplicity of English, which uses one definite article for all situations. Non-native speakers never need to guess the gender of a noun or the grammatical case of a word. We just use the word "the" for everything; other people can deduce gender, case and wether it's singular or plural from context. It's brilliant.

So, what I hate about English? Nothing at all!
HOLY CRAP.

When I was reading this thread, one of the first things I specifically thought to myself is that SnipySev is most definitely a native english speaker. And now I hear that English is your third language O_o.

Seriously. Mind = Blown.		2013-09-10 03:21:00

Author:
Ryan86me
Posts: 1909

HOLY CRAP.

When I was reading this thread, one of the first things I specifically thought to myself is that SnipySev is most definitely a native english speaker. And now I hear that English is your third language O_o.

Seriously. Mind = Blown.

Thanks, man. I've always had an interest in languages, probably because I learned two at the same time when I was a toddler. My mother talked to me in Dutch, and my father and everyone else talked to me in Portuguese. But because I was a little kid, I couldn't quite understand the concept of them being separate languages. So I would occasionally use dutch nouns in a conversation with portuguese people. Obviously, it led to a lot of confusion. According to my parents, it used to drive the kindergarten teachers insane.

I've been struggling a lot with German, though. It's a complicated language.		2013-09-10 04:59:00

Author:
SnipySev
Posts: 2452

I've been struggling a lot with German, though. It's a complicated language.

I did German in school (age 11-16), I was at a fairly decent standard with it. It's not that difficult to learn, coming from a native English speaker. I'm surprised you think it's tough, since I'd imagine it's similar to Dutch?

Speaking of genders, me and a friend were once walking to the pub (before any alcohol was consumed!) and were trying to guess the gender of objects. One of our guesses was that a key is masculine, and a keyhole is feminine......

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130818015515/epicrapbattlesofhistory/images/1/11/If_you_know_what_I_mean_.png

I was talking to a Polish PSN friend (who actually teaches English and does some translatory work), and he confirmed that that's true, certainly for Polish at least.

Off topic, Snipy - it's annoying me that you haven't closed your bracket in your Location section. 		2013-09-10 10:12:00

Author:
Ali_Star
Posts: 4085

What I hate is that I comes before E, unless your trying to pull a feisty heist on your weird foreign neighbor.

But wait, there's more; A
abbacies
aberrancies
abortifacient
accountancies
accuracies
adhocracies
?quivalencies
agencies
agreeing
albeit
Alzheimer's
ancient
aristocracies
atheism
B
bankruptcies
beige
Beijing
being
belligerencies
bibliomancies
biccies
bureaucracies
C
caffeine
choccies
competencies
concurrencies
conscience
conservancies
consistencies
conspiracies
constituencies
contingencies
counterfeit
currencies
czarocracies
D
deficiencies
deicide
deify
deign
deindustrialize
deity
delicacies
delinquencies
democracies
dependencies
disagreeing
dreeing
dreidel
E
ecstacies
efficiencies
efficiency
efficient
eight
either
emergencies
E cont.
Excellencies
excellencies
exigencies
extravagancies
F
Fahrenheit
fallacies
fancied
fancier
fancies
feign
feisty
financier
foreign
foreseeing
forfeit
freight
frequencies
G
geitost
gesundheit
glacier
H
heifer
height
heinous
heir
heist
herein
I
idiocies
idiosyncracies
inaccuracies
inconsistencies
inefficiencies
infrequencies
insufficient
intimacies
inveigle
K
kakistocracies
kaleidoscope
keister
L
latencies
lei
leisure
lieutenancies
lunacies
M
magistracies
meiosis
mercies
N
neigh
neighbor
neighbour
neither
nescience
O
obeisance
obeisancies
obstinancies
omniscience
O cont.
onomatopoeia
P
peine
pharmacies
policies
prescience
proficient
protein
R
reign
reignite
reimburse
rein
reindeer
reindustrialize
reinforce
reinstall
reinvest
reisolate
reissue
S
safeish
scarabaeid
schlockmeister
science
seeing
seignorial
seine
seismic
seize
sensei
sheik
skein
sleigh
sleight
society
sovereign
species
stein
sufficient
supremacies
surfeit
surveillance
T
their
theism
therein
U
urgencies
V
veil
vein
W
weigh
weight
weir
weird
wherein
whereinto
X
xanthein
Z
zeitgeist
zootheism		2013-09-10 14:30:00

Author:
qwerty123456
Posts: 309

I did German in school (age 11-16), I was at a fairly decent standard with it. It's not that difficult to learn, coming from a native English speaker. I'm surprised you think it's tough, since I'd imagine it's similar to Dutch?

It is similar to dutch. The thing that always screws me over is the grammar. Grammatical cases, plural, articles, the gender of words, etc.

Learning new languages hasn't been getting easier over the years. I had three years of mandatory french in middle school, and I have forgotten almost everything about it, which kinda sucks.		2013-09-10 14:56:00

Author:
SnipySev
Posts: 2452

What I hate is that I comes before E, unless your trying to pull a feisty heist on your weird foreign neighbor.

But wait, there's more; A
abbacies
aberrancies
abortifacient
accountancies
accuracies
adhocracies
?quivalencies
agencies
agreeing
albeit
Alzheimer's
ancient
aristocracies
atheism
B
bankruptcies
beige
Beijing
being
belligerencies
bibliomancies
biccies
bureaucracies
C
caffeine
choccies
competencies
concurrencies
conscience
conservancies
consistencies
conspiracies
constituencies
contingencies
counterfeit
currencies
czarocracies
D
deficiencies
deicide
deify
deign
deindustrialize
deity
delicacies
delinquencies
democracies
dependencies
disagreeing
dreeing
dreidel
E
ecstacies
efficiencies
efficiency
efficient
eight
either
emergencies
E cont.
Excellencies
excellencies
exigencies
extravagancies
F
Fahrenheit
fallacies
fancied
fancier
fancies
feign
feisty
financier
foreign
foreseeing
forfeit
freight
frequencies
G
geitost
gesundheit
glacier
H
heifer
height
heinous
heir
heist
herein
I
idiocies
idiosyncracies
inaccuracies
inconsistencies
inefficiencies
infrequencies
insufficient
intimacies
inveigle
K
kakistocracies
kaleidoscope
keister
L
latencies
lei
leisure
lieutenancies
lunacies
M
magistracies
meiosis
mercies
N
neigh
neighbor
neighbour
neither
nescience
O
obeisance
obeisancies
obstinancies
omniscience
O cont.
onomatopoeia
P
peine
pharmacies
policies
prescience
proficient
protein
R
reign
reignite
reimburse
rein
reindeer
reindustrialize
reinforce
reinstall
reinvest
reisolate
reissue
S
safeish
scarabaeid
schlockmeister
science
seeing
seignorial
seine
seismic
seize
sensei
sheik
skein
sleigh
sleight
society
sovereign
species
stein
sufficient
supremacies
surfeit
surveillance
T
their
theism
therein
U
urgencies
V
veil
vein
W
weigh
weight
weir
weird
wherein
whereinto
X
xanthein
Z
zeitgeist
zootheism

The strange thing is there are more exceptions to this rule than the words that follow it. In fact I think they have stopped teaching it now.		2013-09-10 16:15:00

Author:
Shooter0898
Posts: 996

What do I hate about English? The huge bias against Saxon words distilled in our language by our Norman overlords, and the hugely malevolent influence Shakespeare had on the written word.

The language is malformed to the point where the subject must be constantly restated, it's generally difficult to escape the repetitiveness without conscious effort. A language fit for engineers, scientists and other highly specific chronologically ordered bludgeoning work. All the inertia from the scholastic corpses that drag behind you make any writer like Sisyphus. When the nuclear ash settles we will come to blame the English language for all our woes.		2013-09-10 17:45:00

Author:
Ayneh
Posts: 2454

The constant need people have to add plural 'i' to a stem from an entirely different original language. Cacti is just wrong. It's cactuses.2013-09-10 21:41:00

Author:
flamingemu
Posts: 1872

The constant need people have to add plural 'i' to a stem from an entirely different original language. Cacti is just wrong. It's cactuses.

It's to words of latin origin that end in "us". Like colossus, whose plural is colossi.

In this case, "cactuses" and "cacti" are both correct (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cactus). You can use either version.		2013-09-10 23:32:00

Author:
SnipySev
Posts: 2452

It's to words of latin origin that end in "us". Like colossus, whose plural is colossi.

In this case, "cactuses" and "cacti" are both correct (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cactus). You can use either version.

Can I use Cactusesi?		2013-09-11 00:21:00

Author:
TheUltraDeino
Posts: 1274

Does it confuse non-native English speakers that the plural of 'sheep' is 'sheep'?2013-09-11 10:50:00

Author:
Ali_Star
Posts: 4085

Can I use Cactusesi?

No, but big and little green prickly things might work.

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSjZG0vGf077_QYrh4fGOa_kJUg9DkbZ skDrcheQuKmabq_O3qD		2013-09-11 11:03:00

Author:
jwwphotos
Posts: 11383

No, but big and little green prickly things might work.

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSjZG0vGf077_QYrh4fGOa_kJUg9DkbZ skDrcheQuKmabq_O3qD

I prefer the term "Porcupine plants".		2013-09-11 12:55:00

Author:
Ali_Star
Posts: 4085

It's "cacti."






That's racist!		2013-09-11 13:26:00

Author:
FreeAim
Posts: 2462

It's to words of latin origin that end in "us". Like colossus, whose plural is colossi.

In this case, "cactuses" and "cacti" are both correct (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cactus). You can use either version.

Learning
[my latin teacher was wrong for once]		2013-09-11 19:19:00

Author:
flamingemu
Posts: 1872


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