There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger, neither apple nor pine can pineapple. English muffins were not invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies, while sweetbreads, which are not 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, two geese. So, one moose, two meese? one index, two indices? Is cheese the plural of choose?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
In what language do people recite at a play, and play at a recital?
Ship by truck, and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? Park on driveways and drive on parkways? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wiseguy are opposites? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell another?
When a house burns up, it burns down. You fill in a form by filling it out, and an alarm clock goes off by being on.
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. |
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