What is wrong with English?
It was Amitabh Bachchan in “Namak Halal” who said, “I can talk English, I can walk English, I can laugh English because English is a very funny language”. Not a very intelligent observation, but a correct one. Have you ever wondered why there is no butter in buttermilk, no grape in grapefruit, neither peas nor nut in peanuts? While Tomboy is a girl, a Guinea pig is neither a pig nor from Guinea. English is a very illogical language. But what can be done about people using words, without knowing their chart meaning? Ask someone about his parents and his response would be that they are pulling as well (as if they were a pair of bullocks). I once heard a person say, “pen the windows and let the atmosphere come in”. When a young boy passed his school examination with flying colours, their next door neighbour came to felicitate him, “can solutions (Congratulations)!” He said, you hardly worked (you worked hard), preservance (perseverance) always pay. And while the boy from Kerala simply “ can’t meggar his pleggar” ( measure his pleasure), the Bangali babu “ Jasht Shat” ( Just Sat) near the Hawara “ Breedg” (Bridge) and the U.P. Bhaiya drove his Maruti in inshtyle ( style) : and it is not only the Indian who goes around with his pronunciation pyrotechnic but an Australian may scare you by saying” Lets meet to die” Relan! All he wanted to say was “Let’s meet today”. The Americans like to give sound efforts to the names of their cities. While Chicago becomes “Schiago”, Michigan becomes “Mishigan”. Many mix their mother- tongue with English to express certain expressions. The other day I heard my friend say how he stopped “ Buckbucking”.In spite of ‘n’ number of contradictions, I wonder how English has become a global communication language.
Category: School Stuff
Author: Swati Garg
Date: 12 - Nov - 2005