A Tough Question

[syringis]

If con is the opposite of pro, then isn’t Congress the opposite of progress? Jon Stewart

[dubyadiprecession]

1. If fire fighters fight fire, and crime fighters fight crime, what do freedom fighters fight?

-George Carlin

[syringis]

4. Hello Dubyadiprecession

Good one

The answer forbids logic

[PJMcK]

2. English is a strange language

Why do we park in driveways and drive on parkways?

Why do "read" and "read" have different tenses?

Why do people say "scan" when they mean "skim" and vice versa?

Strange.

[syringis]

3. Hello PJMck

We have a few nice ones in French too

"Les poules du couvent couvent"

A typical one which gave countless headaches to the foreigners learning French.

Pronunciation and meaning are not the same .

1st one : noun "couvent" (convent)
2nd : verb "couver" (to hatch) conjugated, 3rd person plural. It is pronunced "couve". "nt" is silent.

English conjugation is much more simple.

No need to say how painful it can be in French, especially for verbs of the 3rd group. Is it needed to talk about different tenses ??

An example : "vivre" (living)

[PJMcK]

5. Great post!

Thanks, syringis!

[syringis]

8. You're welcome PJMcK

Another one :

"La couturière a des problèmes avec ses fils" 2 possibilities depending on the context :

1- the dressmaker has trouble with her sons. In this case, "fils" is pronounced "fiss", "l" is silent.

2- the dressmaker has trouble with the wire. "Fils" is the plural of "fil" (wire) it is pronounced "fil", generally, the "s" to form the plural, is silent.

[Wounded Bear]

6. Why is it when it goes by ship it's "car-go"...

but when it goes by train it's a "ship-ment?"

[Caliman73]

7. One from George Carlin....

Why is it that you can prick your finger, but if you finger your prick its a bad thing?

[yagotme]

9. You can pick your friends,

and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose.


Capitalization also makes a big difference. Like, when I helped my Uncle Jack off a horse...