The Intricacies of Language
by Rosalind Foley on 04/21/12
My Dutch friend Lida, soon after coming to the United Sates, attended a service and was told there would be fellowship afterward. She knew what a fellow was and what a ship was, but couldn't imagine what to expect.
The English we take for granted can be daunting, to say the least. Take the little word 'bow.' Is that bow as what you use to play a musical instrument or bow as the deployer of arrows? Maybe it's bow as in ribbon or the tie of a sash, or the verb bow meaning acknowledging applause or an introduction. Let's not even go to bough as in branch. Ttry to explain why bough isn't pronounced like rough, cough or trough. Before he got smutty, comedian George Carlin made a fortune mocking the conntraditions of our language. Foreigners who learn it should take bow.
