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One commonly known speech error is the famous 'slip-of-the-tongue,' which can often prove embarrassing in certain situations. A lesser-discussed type of error are the corresponding 'slips-of-the-ear,' which go one step beyond your average misunderstanding and can occasionally lead to the creation of new sentences entirely. The most frequently cited example of this is the well-known song by Jimi Hendrix entitled 'Excuse Me, While I Kiss This Guy." Another might be the alternative version of 'Blowing in the Wind,' which is instead about small insects: 'The ants are my friends, they're blowing in the wind.' Recently, in George Yule's "The Study of Language", I stumbled across the example of a child who returned home from Sunday school to report that everyone was singing about a cross-eyed bear named Gladly. In other words, everyone was singing "Gladly the cross I'd bear."
The French dictionary's "K" section is roughly four pages long, depending on whether you are a Petit Robert type or a Larousse type (which is somewhat along the same lines as the Mac or PC debate). As the French language is fairly anti-K, almost every one of the K words comes from another language - Russian, Japanese, English, or Turkish especially. Words like "knickerbockers," "knock-down," and "know-how" are obvious direct rips from English, but more interesting additions to the rigid dictionary include:
- the 1985 entry for the Japanese word "karoaké." Has that word really only been in France for 17 years? Will somebody with an American English dictionary please tell me when that word entered the American English language? My Australian English dictionary gives no date. It does, however, say that the word originates from Japanese kara empty + okesutora orchestra.
- the 1990 entry of the slang word "kiffer" (considered by some to be massively late in its apparition in the dictionary) from the Arabic word "kif", meaning "state of beauty." The French adaptation of the word is in the verb form, and means roughly the same thing as to "really dig something" or "find pleasure in something" in English. The funny part of this word is the interesting switch from a noun in Arabic to a verb in French. Francophones are somewhat like Anglophones in that they can just add a suffix and have a word. Apparently, English is one of the most dynamic languages because of our constant additions of things like -ly or -ish, which constantly creates new words.
- the 1916 intorudction of the word 'kaki" which means, yes, "khaki." It is certainly much more logical to spell it as such. Especially for a language that particularly likes to display a strange spelling pattern.
Then again, English can't boast about its spelling either. (see below)
English confuses. A poem (of sorts):
We polish the Polish furniture.
He could lead if he would get 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.
The dove dove into the bushes.
I did not object to the object
The insurance for the invalid was invalid.
The bandage was wound around thewound
There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
They were too close to the door to close it.
They sent a sewer down to stitch the tear in the sewer line.
To help with planting, the famer taught his sow to sow.
How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
I spent last evening evening out a pile of dirt.
I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
-I wish I knew where this was from
