Crazy English - a History
Well, that definitely sums up John’s English Club nicely, but what about the English language?
The verb READ in the present tense is pronounced /riːd/ and is spelled READ which is helpful. But, what happens in the past tense and the past participle of the verb? Well, the spelling doesn’t change but the pronunciation does, and it is now pronounced, READ /red/.
“But John, that’s CRAZY!”
“I know! That’s what I’m trying to tell you!”
Take another (very British) word; chuffed:
Look the word up in a dictionary and you’ll find it’s an extremely British way of saying ‘pleased’
But ridiculously (and admittedly less well-known) its second definition is ‘displeased’.
The opposite!!!
Words like these are are called contronyms, the very same word with the opposite meaning.
What? No way!
Yes, way!
And what about a crazy tense or grammar rule?
Well, we have the misleading word ‘PRESENT’ in the Present Perfect Tense which can be used for actions that started in the PAST: I’ve lived in Buenos Aires since 1956.
So if you are you one of the estimated 1.5 billion English-language learners around the world, fasten your seatbelts, jump on board and come with me as we take a trip into the past!