Everwood - Everwood Melting Pot (OT3) #2: Cultural Exchange and International Talk - Page 5

Everwoodian Kopite · 05-09-2008, 08:47 PM

I was just sitting here typing the word philosophy on my keyboard, and then it hit me: What's the point of "ph" when we have the letter "f"?!

It just puzzled me a bit

everwoodfan52 · 05-09-2008, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Everwoodian Kopite (View Post)

I was just sitting here typing the word philosophy on my keyboard, and then it hit me: What's the point of "ph" when we have the letter "f"?!

It just puzzled me a bit

That's because the English language is ridiculous!!
So many silent letters.So many rules and so many exceptions to rules.

My brother-in-law is from Italy. He can't stand that about our language. In Italian every letter is pronounced exactly the way it looks.
That's the way it should be, in my opinion.

Everwoodian Kopite · 05-09-2008, 09:37 PM

Filosofy. I like it.

Doctor Fill. I hate him, but I like the writing.

F is the way forward!

F for the people! Viva la F-ulution!

'Tos · 05-09-2008, 10:34 PM

As an esteemed English major..I have no idea.

It's probably from the origins of the word, so, either blame the Greek or the Latin.

Speaking of the craziness of English:

Quote:

We polish Polish furniture.

He could lead if he got the lead out.

A farm can produce produce.

The dump was so full, it had to refuse refuse.

The soldier decided to desert in the desert.

The present is a good time to present the present.

At the Army base, a bass was painted on a bass drum.

A dove dove into the bushes.

I didn’t object to the object.

The insurance for the invalid was invalid.

The bandage was wound around the wound.

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

The two were too close to the door to close it.

The buck does funny things when does are present.

They sent a sewer down to stitch a tear in the 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 Novocain injections, my lips got number.

I shed a tear over a tear in my shirt.

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

How can I intimate this to my most intimate friends?

I spent last evening evening out a pile of dirt.

Of course, I can do English easily, but five years of French and I still can't speak it or write it or read it properly.

Everwoodian Kopite · 05-09-2008, 10:49 PM

Don't act like a big filosofer, 'Tos.

You act like Doctor Fill, but can you hear that? It's the fone ringing.

Phorget it! The way phorward is switching!

(That made no sense, but then again, it's almost 8 in the morning here. I better get to bed.)

'Tos · 05-09-2008, 11:05 PM

Hehe, you sound like, Sylvester the Putty-tat. Suffering succotash!

Quote:

(That made no sense, but then again, it's almost 8 in the morning here. I better get to bed.)

8 in the morning??? Holy crap. That's when people (ie. crazy people) wake up, not go to sleep!

**buffyannAlex** · 05-10-2008, 12:16 AM

'Ph" in french is pronunced "F" and we say "Philosophie" so you can blame the french, it's probably our fault (and the Latin before)

Wilpen · 05-10-2008, 04:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by everwoodfan52 (View Post)

In a nice middle school in suburban, Bucolic (as Harold said on Everwood) New Jersey.

That's fantastic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Betty

That's because the English language is ridiculous!!
So many silent letters.So many rules and so many exceptions to rules

You know, I never realized this prior to watching Alex polish up on English and even now, while she's totally 100% fluent, she still asks me questions and during this I think about how tough and even silly this language can be with the rules and exceptions to rules.

Anyone that's bilingual or more impresses me. I know Spanish but I would never say I was bilingual because I haven't perfected Spanish in the least. I can get by in Spanish speaking countries but I do so nervously and without totally being able to communicate like I would ultimately want to.

Angela amazes me with how she knows both English and French to perfection and not only that, she writes English the American way, not the British/Canadian way, because she got both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in the states and that, along with her mother being American, she just sort of crossed over and started spelling things American in college and has never looked back. LOL. Or listening to her speaking French to a collegue and English to me, she never screws it up going back and forth. I find this amazing.

I have a fascination with languages as you can tell. Heh.

**buffyannAlex** · 05-10-2008, 05:49 AM

I'm right there with you on the fascination thing.

Though honestly, from what I gather around, I don't know if it's because everyone learn it so early, but english isn't the most difficult language there is. Actually, lots of people say it's one of the easiest because there's basically no conjugating involved.
So, of course, there's lots of things to learn and it's not like all the words are easy to get and pronunciation doesn't always make sense (I'm still trying to master the "gin" vs "jean" thing

), you have to work on it, but it is relatively easy to have a basic level to work from. Because of the non conjugating thing.
Doesn't mean it doesn't drive me nuts daily.

But I'm glad that the international language isn't chinese, if you know what I mean

Abomasum · 05-10-2008, 06:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buffyannAlex (View Post)

'Ph" in french is pronunced "F" and we say "Philosophie" so you can blame the french, it's probably our fault (and the Latin before)

The words with ph are Greek. And it's (or was...

) used in German as well. In many words of Greek origin with that sound.

It's beautiful, in my opinion, and should never be replaced by an ordinary F, like they started doing it in Germany.

Fotografie, Delfin...

how does that even look?!

Sorry for throwing myself into your conversation.

I've had an obsession with the ph ever since I learned how to read...

everwoodfan52 · 05-10-2008, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Sorry for throwing myself into your conversation. I've had an obsession with the ph ever since I learned how to read.

These conversations are for everybody, Leo. Please keep throwing yourself in.

**buffyannAlex** · 05-10-2008, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abomasum (View Post)

The words with ph are Greek. And it's (or was...

) used in German as well. In many words of Greek origin with that sound.

THanks for the clarification. How dumb do I look now ?

Abomasum · 05-10-2008, 07:10 AM

Sorry.

I don't think it's a biggie, though. Just thought I'd say it. I know it's hard to tell what word comes from which language, Latin, or Ancient Greek, they are so old and long forgotten and both influenced our languages so long ago that the words feel too common to tell the difference anymore...

Wilpen · 05-10-2008, 07:20 AM

Totally random but I wanted to say that new polls are out and IF the election were held right now:

Hillary would beat McCain by 9 points, if Obama went up against McCain, Obama beats Mccain by 6 pts. The irony is Hillary would beat McCain by more yet Obama's probably getting the nomination, amazing. And Hillary's up by like 43 points in West Virginia.

What scares me about Obama is he didn't win the big states, Hilary did, yet he's almost 100% going to be the democratic candidate and like I said Hillary still, by numerous polls, is viewed as the stronger candidate against McCain. That concerns me a bit about Obama... what if he doesn't win the states against McCain that Hillary took?

I guess looking at it positively, as a democrat, BOTH candidates, Hillary and Obama, are favored to beat McCain right now. So that's very good news. I just hope Obama finds a way to securely take the necessary states against McCain that he did poorly in against Hillary, though.

ETA: Abomasum, never feel like you are intruding.

And I completely agree with you, too. When I read the "F" comments I kind of laughed yet cringed at the same time since it just seems so wrong.

And I love my native language of course even if I notice some of the things that can be confusing for others who are learning it.

**buffyannAlex** · 05-10-2008, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abomasum (View Post)

Sorry.

I don't think it's a biggie, though. Just thought I'd say it. I know it's hard to tell what word comes from which language, Latin, or Ancient Greek, they are so old and long forgotten and both influenced our languages so long ago that the words feel too common to tell the difference anymore...

No, it's cool

on the contrary, thanks for explaining. I actually took both Latin and Greek in junior high but don't remember much about it now