wickedflea | (no subject)

Thank goodness some of you knew what I was talking about last night with that word thing. I was thinking about the word "something" and it seemed SO WEIRD. It's not that weird, really -- it's just two words that became one, and we do that all the time, but still it looks weird. And we say it quickly, as if it were always one word. And I'll bet that the "ing" really throws non-native speakers off at first; it probably looks like a verb form. Another time I got to thinking about the word "snake," and the more I thought about it, the weirder it seemed. I couldn't even think of any other words that began with "sn." I was like, "Snake?! What kind of a word is that? SNAKE?!?"

But wow, at least now I know I'm not crazy. Or at least not in this regard. Or at the very least that others share my sickness.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

i wonder about stuff like that - like monsters. i know what a monster is, but can i define "monster?" no.
why is that?

Got me. It reminds me of that scene in Reality Bites where the prospective employer asks Winona to define irony and she says, "Well, I can't . . . but I know it when I see it!"

then there are words that you just hate to say because they SOUND weird.
like ointment for example.

Right. And "fagabefe."