June 17, 2007

Ghoti = Fish

If you still haven't got it, well don't worry. Most of us, the lesser beings won't. This is how the word "ghoti" is pronounced. Still can't get it! Well here's how it works:
gh as in tough, o as in women and ti as in any word ending in -tion
This is the perfect recipe for a delicious Bengali fish.

George Bernard Shaw coined this term exactly for the purpose that I am serving here. This word doesn't even have a meaning and is used only to show the phonetic nature of the English language.

One reason why English has a wider reach than any other language is for the ease with which a beginner can learn it. But, with the phonetic mayhem that it possesses, it is surely not easy to speak correctly, however easy it maybe to write. The only reason that I can think of for this wider reach is perhaps, the humongous cross breeding that the Britishers practiced during the Commonwealth era.

There have been many a tries for a phonetic movement. But, even imagining the way phonetic English shall be written gives you goosebumps.
Kaech Twaintee Too, Eessan't it?

Thought, thanks to Stephen

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