Saturday, July 26, 2008

Verse And Worse

Random Wit, Errant Rhyme. Not A Literary Crime

Explain why donkey
Sounds like shonky
But why monkey
Rhymes with funky

9 comments:

Louise said...

Yeah. Explain that to my 4-year-old and 6-year-old. It's a wonder any of us who speak English learned to speak and write properly. (Clearly many did not, but still amazing that anyone did.)

Maddy said...

How anyone learns to spell is a mystery to me!
Cheers

Jules said...

Crazy language isn't it????

PS My Peter ToRot posts are happening all next week.

Maggie May said...

Our language can be rather rough
To learn & some say, "That is enough!"
They never get to master it
And some pupils cannot give a shit....
Thank Goodness I learnt when I was young....
Else I might never have mastered my mother tongue!

Anonymous said...

For 10 years I taught 5th grade to second language learners -- Spanish being their first language -- and when anyone of them wailed such a question in frustration and despair, I would always reply, "Oh! There's a very good explanation for that!"

The kid would then wail, "What is it?!"

And I would say, "Donkey rhymes with shonkey, but monkey rhymes with funky porque ingles es loco!"

Lee said...

Oh my, I so love Quilly's response! My mom taught ESL and I'm sure her students said the same thing.

Cheers!

maryt/theteach said...

In America, David, donkey and monkey DO rhyme! Ha! :)

Anonymous said...

Very funny post, and I laughed to at quilly's response!

Anonymous said...

lovelovelovelovelovelove.

shel silverstein?
jack prelutsky?
theodore geisel?

my faves all.