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  • English is crazy,

  • and what other languages do you recite at a play, but play at a recital,

  • or ship by truck but send cargo by ship?

  • We have noses that run and feet that smell,

  • and the writers write hammers definitely don't ham.

  • you fill in a form by filling it out,

  • and your alarm goes off by going on,

  • and why is it that a slim chance and a fat chance are the same thing,

  • but a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

  • But this is where it gets even more confusing,

  • if you speak of a box in the plural, is "boxes",

  • yet the plural of "ox" should be "oxen", not "oxes".

  • Then one is a "goose", two are called "geese",

  • yet the plural of "moose" should never be "meese".

  • And I speak of a foot, and you show me your feet,

  • but I give a boot, what a pair we called "beet",

  • and we talk about brother and also our brethren,

  • but so we say mother we never say methren.

  • The masculine pronouns are "he", "his" and "him",

  • but imagine the feminine "she", "shis" and "shim".

  • And I take it you already know of "tough" and "bough" and "cough" and "dough".

  • Beware of "heard", a dreadful word,

  • that looks like "beard" and sounds like "bird".

  • And "dead" is said like "bed", not "bead".

  • For goodness sakes, don't call it "deed".

  • Watch out for "meat" and great" and "threat",

  • they rhyme with "suite" and "straight" and "debt".

  • And "here" is not a match for "there" and "dear" and "fear" for "bear" and "pear".

  • And then there's "dose" and "rose" and "lose",

  • just look them up, and "goose" and "choose".

  • And "cork" and "work" and "card" and "ward" and "font" and front"

  • and "word" and "sword" and "do" and "go".

  • and "thwart"and "cart"!

  • Come on, I 've hardly made a start!

  • A dreadful language, well, man alive.

  • I learned to talk it when I was five,

  • but to write it, the more I try,

  • I still haven't learned to at 25.

English is crazy,

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it

B1 US plural dreadful goose wise bead shim

English Is Crazy!

  • 20 1
    Angel Cheng posted on 2016/10/06
Video vocabulary

Keywords

speak

US /spik/

UK /spi:k/

  • verb
  • To be able to use a certain language
  • To use words to tell information, express thoughts
learn

US /lɚn/

UK /lɜ:n/

  • verb
  • To get knowledge or skills by study or experience
  • To gain knowledge or skill by studying, from experience, or by being taught.
  • other
  • To gain knowledge or skill by studying, from experience, or by being taught.
  • other
  • To gain knowledge or skill by studying, from experience, or by being taught.
  • To find out something.
  • To find out something.
write

US /raɪt/

UK /raɪt/

  • verb
  • To compose letters and words on paper or a screen
  • To invent or create a computer program
  • To create a song or piece of music
beard

US /bɪrd/

UK /bɪəd/

  • noun
  • Hair that grows on a man's face
slim

US /slɪm/

UK /slɪm/

  • adjective
  • Being thin in an appealing way
  • Being narrow in width
  • Being small in quantity or number
  • verb
  • To eat less in order to become thinner
word

US /wɚd/

UK /wɜ:d/

  • noun
  • Unit of language that has a meaning
  • Promise
  • Short remark or piece of information
  • verb
  • To express something by choosing particular words
play

US /pleɪ/

UK /pleɪ/

  • verb
  • To act as a character in a movie, or on stage
  • To perform music on an instrument
  • To use a device, e.g. a video game
  • To do something for enjoyment and fun
  • To do or perform a game or sport
  • noun
  • Loose, free movement between two objects
  • Single action in a sports game
  • Performance in which people act in a theater
bird

US /bɜ:rd/

UK /bɜ:d/

  • noun
  • Animal with feathers that uses wings to fly
  • A warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrate animal of the class Aves, distinguished by having feathers, wings, a beak, and typically being able to fly.
  • (slang) An aircraft or spacecraft.
  • (slang) A hole played in one under par; a birdie.
  • (slang) A term in prison.
  • (slang, offensive) A gesture of defiance or contempt made by pointing the middle finger upwards.
  • (British slang) A woman or girl.
  • (slang) A shuttlecock.
  • other
  • To watch birds in their natural environment.
talk

US /tɔk/

UK /tɔ:k/

  • noun
  • Style of speaking
  • Discussion between two countries
  • Giving information in front of people; lecture
  • Saying things or ideas to someone with words
  • verb
  • To make a formal speech about something
  • To say things or ideas to someone with words
man

US /mæn/

UK /mæn/

  • noun
  • An adult male human being.
  • A piece in a board game, especially chess or checkers.
  • Qualities traditionally associated with men, such as courage or strength.
  • Humans in general, including male and female
  • A woman's husband or boyfriend.
  • An adult male human being
  • Male who acts in a masculine way; not like a woman
  • A person employed for a particular task or job.
  • other
  • Human beings in general; humanity.
  • verb
  • To control or operate (a machine); be in charge of
  • To operate a machine (a boat, etc.)
  • other
  • To provide with staff; to operate or control.